Lionhearted
by anim8or
Summary: In an alternate universe where the Alteans are the ones taking over, the fate of every galaxy is left in the hands of a group of six teenagers who probably shouldn't be piloting the Lions in the first place. They were chosen out of necessity and convenience, after all. (SYOC closed)
1. Prologue

There are many, many infinite universes with many, many infinite outcomes and people and situations and planets and civilizations. In some, all of the races - human and alien - got along in perfect harmony. In others - such as this one, - they did not. In some, the Galra were the ones attacking and enslaving the galaxies. In others - such as this one, - it is... different. In search of peace for all, in some type of horrible attempt at purveying that idea, the Altean people have inadvertently (or perhaps, entirely advertently) taken over worlds. It had only been six months ago that they had found Earth, and it had taken around a week for them to completely take over. Or, at least, to have taken over the government systems of each country and promote their own beliefs to the people. And at first, it hadn't seemed all that awful. After all, how could peace be bad?

Figuring out that they were removing the freedoms of the human race took a few more weeks. Curfews, monitored language, restricted traveling, invaded privacy, subliminal messages in broadcasting... the list went on and on. But even when the humans did figure it out, there wasn't much they could do about it. The Alteans were powerful beings, and humans... well, they weren't. So they allowed it, mostly. The restricted creative expression, the emotional suppression, and especially the tamped-down levels of violence. Which, honestly, Arin didn't think was too bad. Not at first, at least. But then those restrictions moved into things like sports, debates, and you could forget about things like the Garrison and fighter pilots.

Arin Galinsky had once been a student at said Garrison. In fact, it had only been one year since she had had to quit. Not because of the Alteans or any misdemeanors or any type of expulsion, but because of injury. She'd been fifteen when it happened, and now, at sixteen, she'd been hoping to return and finish her training. As long as she didn't strain herself too much, she was fine. Or, relatively speaking, at least. All she had to do was take it easy.

But she was not good at taking it easy.

Especially when she just knew those Alteans were hiding something great in one of those ships that they used now and again as carriers. Honestly, they really should've thought their locations through - when a Galinsky was lurking around, no secrets were safe, and outside of the former Galaxy Garrison was one of those places that one tended to lurk. Arin wasn't a genius, as most of her family members had been, but she had more than enough determination to sneak her hard-headed self into even the most well-guarded castle-ship-thingies.

Brute force certainly helped in these kinds of situations.

Or, in this case, a tactfully-thrown sleeper grenade that Arin had been hiding in her backpack for the past... how long had it been? She couldn't quite remember, but it had been a while. It never hurt to be prepared, did it?

Under the cover of night, Arin had managed to sneak close enough to the ship to set off the sleep grenade and effectively put the three guards who were watching the entrance out of commission. The girl wasn't particularly large a person, and after taking some time off from training in order to heal, did not have the muscle mass that she used to. There would be no hand-to-hand combat this time; she was not nearly strong enough to handle even one Altean, much less three of them. So, instead, she just held her breath and bolted past while they choked on the gas that she'd assailed them with. She hoped that the fumes would work similarly on Altean physiology that it did with humans.

Fortunately for her, the doors were opened - which was, she guessed, why the guards were set up outside for the time being. Not that the dark-haired girl had spent much time reasoning this attack-thing out before she implemented it. More or less, she was just hoping to get some type of information from them. Nobody _else_ seemed to be willing to do it, so why not her?

If it wasn't already abundantly clear, she had been a freaking _nightmare_ at the Garrison.

Slamming her hand into what she hoped was the "shut the door please" button, Arin was happy to see the Altean guards outside laying on the ground, fast asleep. The doors themselves slid shut like the motion-activated ones at the mall, effectively barring her view of the sleeping guards and sealing herself inside. With the first step of her self-administered mission completed, Arin turned her pale green eyes to scan around the inside of the ship.

It was clean and crisp, mostly white, with some sort of pinkish energy running through the walls. Fortunately enough, there was nobody else around in this particular place, and she couldn't hear any alarms going off, so she could only assume that they hadn't detected her yet. But that wasn't any reason to drop her guard, so she kept quiet as she crept down the halls. However, it was so silent within the ship that she could hear absolutely every step she took and every breath she breathed. It was making her feel anxious, to say the least, but her adrenaline was rushing so quickly through her veins that she hardly acknowledged the fear.

"Hey!" a booming voice sounded behind her, and Arin snapped around so fast that her knee twinged in residual pain. Instantly, her gaze landed on one of the three guards standing at the entrance of the ship. It was an oddly beautiful sight - the Altean, painted in the colors of his dark skin and white hair, bathed in the light from the purple energy flowing throughout the walls. "Stop right there, intruder! I do not wish to harm you."

Okay. Maybe she _was_ going to fight.

A smile crept onto her features and she shrugged her right shoulder. He pointed his weapon - perhaps some kind of laser gun - at her, though Arin was fairly confident he wouldn't shoot to kill. Alteans were all about that peace shit, after all. So, she raised her hands in surrender and let him walk over to her. The Altean seemed much more at ease now, lowering his gun and striding purposefully over to her. Arin allowed him, and even complied when he grasped her left shoulder firmly, giving it a sharp squeeze before moving to lead her to the exit.

With one fluid motion, Arin dropped and swept her good leg around to slam into the Altean's ankles, dropping him to the metal flooring with a loud _clang_ and clatter of his gun as it skittered down the hall. He grabbed for her calf and brought her down immediately after him, and the two of them wrestled on the floor for a long few moments. It became clear almost instantly that Arin would not be the victor of this match - after all, Alteans _were_ very strong, and Arin wasn't in top form in the first place. Honestly, she wasn't sure why she wanted to do this so badly. It was just that, after the Galaxy Garrison was shut down because of the Alteans and Arin returned to find the place abandoned in the middle of the desert, with an Altean ship planted nearby, she couldn't _help_ but begin to plan some type of attack.

Arguably, one single human probably needed more than a night to plan and prepare for an attack... but what was done was done, and there was no coming back from it. Still, she fought like hell to beat this guy - she didn't rush in headfirst like this to come out empty handed.

But the Altean had her pinned flush against the cold metal floor, and her knee was screaming for rest. Actually, her entire body felt like it was on fire, but the main problem was that injury flaring up again. All of her shoving and elbowing and kicking was coming up for naught. It felt like she was struggling against a prone brick wall, and it was quite obvious that there was no moving him.

Unless...

Without giving much thought to it, Arin brought her good knee up to slam between the Altean's legs, hoping against hope that it would work similarly to how male human physiology would. Although she didn't know much about Alteans and their biology and crap like that, she knew that a nutshot was pretty much good enough to put any human man out of commission for quite a while.

Fortunately - and surprisingly - the Altean's eyes widened and his hands went immediately to the injured spot. His face took on a pallid hue, mirroring a human's expression exactly. It was almost comical, and under normal circumstances, Arin would be rolling with laughter. As it would happen, however, she only had time for a slight giggle before she straightened her legs out to propel him off of her so that she could dart off down the hallway. It was only at the end, when she managed to run into the room at the very end of the hall, that she allowed herself an actual, honest-to-god laugh. Then, she made sure that the button to her right shut and locked the door.

She had her priorities, after all.

A soft gasp escaped her mouth as pain shot from her knee to her hip, reminding her that she was not supposed to be putting nearly this much strain on it. Gripping it tightly with one hand, Arin looked around the room to check and see if there was anything noteworthy lying around. Upon first glance, however, it would seem that there was hardly anything interesting there at all. The walls were stark white and the floor steel. The only thing even in the room at all was a small table sitting right in the middle of the room, and the only thing sitting on that was a small, colorful object.

Arin, being naturally curious (which was, incidentally, the reason she was here in the first place,) didn't hesitate before hurrying over to pick up the object. It was hexagonal in shape, and each of the sections was a different color. There was a gray side, a gold side, a purple side, a white side, a teal side, and an orange side. She wasn't sure why, but Arin couldn't help the attraction she felt to the final color on the list, and she reached out the index finger of her right hand to touch it. The instant she made contact, the orange side illuminated brightly.

 _"Hello, Orange paladin."_ The voice, unexpected and disembodied, sounded like it rang out in her very mind. She couldn't tell whether the carrier of said voice was male or female; young or old. After the initial shock wore off - because Arin had nearly dropped the hexagonal shape and yelped at the unexpected noise - she was able to think a bit more clearly. Or, as clearly as she was able in this specific situation. _"I have sealed the door to the room, so that you and I are free to speak for the time being."_

Arin cleared her throat, unsure of what to say. How does one speak to a hexagon? It wasn't exactly a normal occurrence.

The voice offered a light chuckle in response to her speechlessness, and went on, _"It is alright if you are afraid. I am certain that this is a... shock to you. You are not Altean, right?"_

"Uh, no," she finally spoke, gingerly bouncing the object in her palms. She couldn't really help it - it was some type of nervous tick that she wasn't even sure she had in the first place. Apparently, speaking to some sort of talking alien tech brought it out of her. "I'm Arin Galinsky. Human. Er, my mom is Spanish and my dad is Israeli. I'm from Seattle, uh, Washington. My birthday-"

 _"That is quite enough information, thank you."_ Apparently the hexagon was impatient. _"My name is Luxin, and I am - or, I_ was _, an Altean."_ Arin was beginning to feel like her brain was about to explode. _"However, that is unimportant. For the time being, all you need to know is that you must take this object with you when you get out of this place. We_ must _work as one - it is fate that brought us together."_

The sixteen-year-old frowned, thick brows knitting up. "Actually, I think it was mostly the sleeper grenade that brought us together."

She could almost picture a personified version of this Luxin person facepalming. Much in the same way her former commanders and teammates did. _"Of course the Orange Lion's paladin would be the densest human being on the planet."_ A sigh came from the colorful hexagon. _"Look, I-"_

"That's another thing," Arin interrupted, turning the object in her hands to look at all six sides. "Why do you keep on calling me that? A paladin?"

Luxin groaned from within the hexagon. _"Please, could we perhaps get out of this ship before you start asking all of these questions?"_ they asked, exasperated, and Arin arched a brow. A more intelligent person probably would have made sure that they could trust whatever the talking hexagon thing was before they listened to it, but, as previously stated, Arin was not very high in the intelligence category.

"Alright, then."

The Altean breathed a sigh that sounded particularly relieved, and continued speaking as though they had never been upset in the first place. _"The guards will likely attempt to break down the door soon. The sole purpose of this ship was to transport and detain me. There are hardly other rooms that you could be in."_ The tone took on a more amused lilt. _"Did you honestly kick that guard between his legs? Because that was surprisingly efficient and hilarious."_

Arin laughed, tossing the hexagon lightly and catching it once more. "Guess growing up with brothers has its perks. All guys react like that."

 _"All male Alteans do that, as well. I suppose it might be a universal law."_

"Guess so."

A bang at the door caused the Galinsky to spin around, nearly losing her grip on Luxin in the process. The Altean screeched in response, _"DO NOT DROP ME!"_

"They're trying to get in," Arin stated bluntly, clutching the hexagon to her flat chest and looking around wildly for somewhere to escape. The room had only one door, and no windows, so the next best thing would probably be...

 _"The air vent!"_ Luxin proclaimed, and the mahogany-haired girl looked up to see what they were talking about. The ventilation shaft was positioned just above her head on the far wall, and would take a bit of a jump to reach. Her knee gave a sharp pain of protest at the thought, but Arin put it to the back of her mind for just the moment. There were more important things to do - she had gotten herself into this situation (and was, shockingly, only just now realizing that it was probably a bad idea,) and she could get herself out. Or, at the very least, she could try to.

Shoving the hexagon unceremoniously into her backpack, the teen wasted no time in taking off at a run in order to jump and snag her fingers in the grate that was blocking the vent. She jerked back in an attempt to dislodge the barricade. Unfortunately, all she managed to do was fall back down flat on the floor, and the grate did not budge.

 _"Idiot."_ The disembodied Altean's voice was muffled from inside her pack, so Arin pulled them back out. _"That's bolted to the wall!"_ they exclaimed, and the teen was fairly certain that she could feel the irritation wafting off of the colorful shape in her hand. _"Hold me up to the corners and allow me to help detach it."_

The guards continued banging on the door, and Arin hurried to hold Luxin up so that they could do their thing. Whatever that was.

Once more, the orange side illuminated with light. Only this time, the light extended, connecting with one of the bolts that secured the grate in front of the vent. The screw began to melt; the metal turned white hot and began to drip down the wall. "Awesome," Arin breathed, and moved onto the last three bolts. It was quick work, but the guards broke down the door just as quickly. As soon as the grate dropped to the floor, the door burst in, and the three guards ran into the room. The teen yelped and acted impulsively - as per usual, - throwing Luxin hard and nailing the first guard in the forehead with the hexagon.

At first, all five occupants of the room went silent, too shocked to say anything. Luxin regained their senses first, and was justifiably pissed off. _"You are a quiznaking moron!"_ they shouted furiously, and shrieked in horror when one of the guards lifted them off the ground.

"Sorry, sorry!" Arin attempted to apologize, taking a few quick steps forward. She fully intended on fighting to free the Altean-hexagon from the guards, but two of three had their weapons drawn and aimed right at the teen. Raising her hands sheepishly in defeat, the Galinsky dropped her head. Though she might be a _quiznaking moron_ , she was smart enough to know when she was completely out of other options. Surrender would be safest in this situation.

She could hear Luxin groan from across the room, severely disappointed.

* * *

 **{[** Voltron **]}**

* * *

The guards blindfolded Arin and took her to another ship, separating herself and Luxin. Understandable, but frustrating. Because, now that she'd touched the hexagon, it felt... wrong to be away from it. Not that it mattered overmuch, though - they were still capable of communicating. Luxin explained it at some sort of mind-meld, or spiritual connection. Which further enforced the Altean's own view of fate and destiny, which Arin was just now beginning to believe in, herself.

"So... you were the one who created these Lions?" she asked, sitting with her back against the wall of her cell. It was dark in this ship, and Arin could hardly see the bars that led out into the hallway. "Why did you make them in the first place? Is the Orange one mine?" She had her eyes shut - with Luxin's mind-meld, it was easy for the Altean to send her images and help visualize the story that they were telling.

Luxin was significantly more patient with her now that they weren't in immediate danger, and responded to her questions calmly and in order. _"I was assistant to the man who did create them. Alfor was the one who came up with the idea when we found the quintessence in the first place. The original purpose for creating Voltron was a weapon to help stop our own kind from taking over the galaxies, but... well, when the other Alteans found out about our plan..."_ The voice trailed off, considering their words carefully. _"They were... not happy. Fortunately, Alfor also came up with this hexagon. We were both going to plant our consciousness into it so that we could live on after death, but I was the only one who made it."_ They changed subject to the next question hastily after that. _"And, yes, it would appear that the Orange one - the left arm of Voltron - wants you."_

Arin smiled as an image of a massive, beautiful mechanical lion popped into her mind. Its color reminded her of a Push-Pop - a happy shade of orange that drew her in and created the sensation of impending laughter in her chest. "Where is she?" the teen asked, longing to reach out and touch the metal surface of the great beast's face. "Also, how come the Alteans didn't destroy you when they found the hexagon?"

 _"The locations of the lions will be revealed to me when we come into contact with the other five paladins. For now, I am not sure where any of the six are."_ Luxin sighed deeply - the sound echoed through Arin's mind and sullied the feeling of peace and happiness she experienced whilst seeing her Lion. _"They did not destroy me because this object is made of the same metal and quintessence that the Lions are. It cannot be destroyed by any technology that they currently possess."_

"Sweet."

 _"I suppose."_

The teen sighed through her nose and bumped the back of her head against the wall. "Do you have any idea of how to get in contact with the other paladins?" she asked, fiddling lightly with a frayed hole in the knee of her dark jeans. "Like, maybe you can mind-meld with them like you are with me?"

 _"I can only meld my mind with a paladin who makes physical contact with me,"_ they responded, but they did not sound upset at the fact. _"However, I do have an idea."_

Arin raised a brow. "You gonna share with the group or keep it to yourself?" she asked, tapping one sneakered foot on the floor.

Luxin let out a soft laugh before responding. _"Now that you and I are connected, I believe that I could possibly release a burst of energy that would call to anyone in the nearest two hundred... er, I believe you humans call these measurements of distance_ miles. _"_ Which sounded good when it was said like that, but would all five other paladins be within two hundred miles? Especially when there were other planets and galaxies and all that?

Apparently, the disembodied Altean voice could hear her thoughts. Or, at least, was a very good guesser. _"There can be more than one paladin for each Lion in existence. Mainly, the choosing process is based upon personality and spirit. For example, the Orange Lion chose you out of not only convenience, but because your personality fits with the Lion's. Orange is optimistic, happy, courageous, and... well, frankly impulsive. All traits which you possess."_

"Cool. So this energy thing will just attract the five that are most likely to fit with the personalities of the other Lions?" she asked, picturing the other colors of Lions alongside her own. "What are those?"

There was a short pause, before Luxin continued. _"The right arm of Voltron is the **Purple** Lion. Intelligent, calm, thoughtful, and stoic, they would likely provide some type of logical element to the team. Negatively, they might stick far too close to logic and think too hard. Which is where you would help, Orange paladin." _He paused again for a breath. _"The right leg of Voltron is the **Gray** Lion. Reserved, blunt, loyal, and aggressive, the paladin of this Lion would provide support in the form of solidity and stability. Negatively, there is a chance for rebellion or argumentativeness, or a clashing with the team. I am certain you have met people like this in your life." _Arin snorted in amusement. _"The left leg of Voltron is the **Teal** Lion. Devoted, peaceful, original, and flexible, this paladin would probably support the team by providing new ideas and ways of thinking. Negatively, they might be a bit... lazy. Or, at least, they would find it hard to stick to one job and forget things." _She knew people like that, as well.

 _"The head of Voltron is the **Gold** Lion. Focused, powerful, hardworking, and precise, this paladin would support the team by providing firm and decisive leadership. Negatively, they might lean toward the cold side in terms of personality. Almost like they don't feel emotions at all." _Maybe like some of the commanders at the Garrison had been. _"The torso of Voltron, the **White** Lion, counteracts that. Pure, innocent, gentle, and loving, they provide a wellspring of support by being there emotionally for the team, providing good energy and companionship. Negatively, they can be naïve and easy to fool, and perhaps a bit... fearful and hesitant." _

Resting her chin on her good knee, Arin sighed. "This is all so complicated," she groaned lightly, running one hand through her short, messy hair. She needed to brush it, she realized absentmindedly. It was beginning to look like some sort of dark russet-brown rat's nest. Not that she could actually see it in the dark like this.

 _"It is very complicated. Imagine building these Lions,"_ Luxin said in return, and Arin couldn't help but feel a bit of a sympathy headache. That must've sucked. But, before she could say anything else in response, the Altean went on. _"What do you say we stop thinking and start calling for the others? Perhaps they can get the both of us out of here, and we can all begin work to form Voltron and take down the Altean empire?"_

Arin smiled, closing her eyes and picturing the Lions once more. "Absolutely. I'm ready to get the quiznak out of this place."

* * *

 **{[** Voltron **]}**

* * *

 **An ~** _It has been SO LONG since I've posted anything! I'm so, so so soososoososooooo sorry, you guys. Maybe we can come back strong with this SYOC? Which I am a little afraid of posting, because, honestly, I have never seen a Voltron SYOC and I don't exactly know if there's any sort of demand for them. I mean, I know that I have been wanting one, because I am obsessed with this show, but... well, I couldn't find one._

 _So I made one._

 _It's very different from the actual show itself, as you can clearly see above. I have had Luxin (poor, hexagonal Luxin) explain the generalized traits of each of the Lions and their paladins, but those are loose guidelines. Your character only has to embody perhaps one or two of the traits listed in order to pilot whichever Lion you'd like._

 _There aren't many rules for this SYOC. Just pm me with your characters, review when you can, and put effort into the form. I have lately seen some people say "pm me if you plan to submit so that I can send you the form to fill out," which is what I am doing. So, if you want a character in this story (because it is going to be epic,) please pm me with a request for a form. In your pm, please tell me the basics of your character (name, age, gender, and Lion) so that I can have some idea of what I am going to be getting. Then, send a different PM titled with the name of your character and what color Lion they pilot._

 _So, in short:_

 _ **STEP ONE:** Ask for the form through pm, explaining a bit about your character in the process._

 _ **STEP TWO:** Fill out the form and send it in a pm titled **Character Name/Lion Color.**_

 _ **STEP THREE:** Enjoy the story, review when you can, and please answer any questions I might have in the future regarding your characters and their relationships/etc._

 _Please pm me with any questions that you may have, or any concerns. Constructive criticism is always appreciated, as well._

 _See you guys soon, hopefully!_

 _Love,_

 _Anim8or_


	2. Character List

The Orange paladin hadn't been what Luxin had been expecting... and yet, at the same time, she was almost exactly what he pictured when he thought of the left arm of Voltron. She had been smaller than he'd foreseen, and thin, with a head of dark brownish hair that reminded him very much of a lion's mane. Deeply tanned, mocha skin and pale eyes ringed with eyelashes of the same dark brown shade as her hair. The girl was wild, headstrong, and confident - to the point of it being a flaw. He couldn't help but worry that she might, perhaps, be too impulsive for a team setting. Of course, he wouldn't know for sure until he met her with her teammates, but he figured she would get on fairly nicely as the pilot of the Orange Lion. Which were the main focus after he'd already found Arin. It might be difficult to find suitable paladins in the near vicinity, but maybe whatever higher beings existed in this world would have mercy and allow them one small victory.

"Oh, Alfor," Luxin whispered solemnly from where he resided inside the hexagon they'd created. His own mindscape had formed a fountain to rest at before a castle - the smell of lilies blew in on the breeze, and the sun was constantly shining. He could only hope that his old friend had somewhere just as beautiful to exist now. "Please... if you are out there... help us find these paladins. Help us achieve our dream of a truly peaceful universe."

The voice that came back did not belong to Alfor - it was young, female, and becoming increasingly familiar to him. _"We'll find the paladins, Luxin,"_ Arin assured. He had thought she'd fallen asleep after they sent the energy beacon out, but apparently he was mistaken. _"And then, when we get to our Lions, we'll kick some Altean ass!"_ There was a small pause, and then a sheepish, _"But... not your Altean ass. Don't worry."_

A snort of laughter escaped the former scientist, and he leaned back on the fountain to gaze at the sky his mind had formulated. It was not as beautiful as the skies on Altea had been - there was something so _flat_ about the shade of it. "I am sure you will," he placated gently, expecting Arin to return to her own dream world as she'd been before. He was allowed a few moments of silence, as it were, because the human started talking again a minute later. Luxin couldn't even be upset about the lack of solitude, however, as all he could feel from the paladin was good intentions. She wanted nothing more than to calm him down - perhaps she could feel how anxious he was about this whole situation.

 _"Let me tell you about the time I crashed my older brother's go-kart and caught this camper on fire."_

And, in that second, Luxin could've sworn the sky took on a hint of orange.

It was a nice change.

* * *

 **{[** Voltron **]}**

* * *

 **Character List**

 _ **Arin Galinsky -**_ **female - _sixteen -_ Orange Lion  
** _5'4" - 115lbs - dark cinnamon brown hair, dark olive skin, pale green eyes.  
 **bold, enthusiastic, impulsive, curious, friendly, courageous, overconfident, playful, protective, loyal**_

 ** _Blake Noxic -_ fe** **male - _nineteen -_ Gold Lion  
** _5'9" - 176lbs - blue, black, and white hair, pale skin, electric blue eyes.  
 **intimidating, leader, unfriendly, headstrong, brave, antisocial, motivated**_

 ** _Ren Chevalier -_ male - _eighteen_ \- Gray Lion  
** _6'1" - 170lbs - violet-black hair, light olive skin, bright amber eyes.  
 **stubborn, determined, somewhat prideful, solitary, socially inept, wise, loyal, honorable, just, genuine**_

 _ **Nikolette Vestergaard -**_ **female - _seventeen_ \- White** **Lion**  
 _5'6" - 180lbs - sunshine blonde hair, fair skin, blue-green eyes.  
 **optimistic, cheerful, forgiving, gentle, trusting, caring, naive, self-deprecating**_

 _ **Min-Seo Kang -**_ **male** _ **\- sixteen -**_ **Teal Lion  
** _5'3" - 139lbs - black and white hair, pale skin, dark brown eyes.  
 **peaceful, flexible, lazy, forgetful, high potential, low drive, empathetic**_

 _ **Kaiden King -**_ **male - _seventeen -_ Purple Lion  
** _5'7" - 155lbs - black hair, bronze skin, light brown eyes.  
 **clever, patient, confident, adaptable, levelheaded, casual, pragmatic, witty, curious, charismatic**_

 _ **Luxin -**_ **male** _ **\- died at around the physical age of twenty-three -**_ **scientist  
** _5'11" - 168lbs - solid white hair, dark tan skin, pale blue eyes.  
 **thoughtful, pragmatic, anxious, methodical, obsessive, occasionally more emotional**_

* * *

 **{[** Voltron **]}**

* * *

 **An -** _Very short update to let you guys know that I have received three completed submissions so far, and all have been great. This is not a first-come, first-serve kind of thing, though, so I am definitely looking for more submissions for all of the Lions! Please keep on submitting.  
I've decided that the **deadline** is **this Sunday** , at around midnight. So please try and get your forms done by Saturday night so you don't miss out!  
_

 _Love,_

 _Anim8or_


	3. Chapter I

_**She** had been sitting on a rooftop in DC, legs dangling off the edge when she felt it. The energy cut through her thoughts, bringing everything to a standstill. Flashes of gold popped into her mind, unbidden, and she rose to her feet without even thinking about it. It was quite obvious that this was not something that she would be able, in good conscience, to ignore._

 _ **He** had been enjoying a hot cup of tea in the city, taking a break from his usual... less than legal activities in order to rest for a while. The energy blast came to him in the form of monotonous gray shades. Much like the one before, the feeling pulled him to his feet and out into the daylight. He wasn't certain as to where he was heading, but he chose to just let his body decide for him._

 _ **She** was reading in her dormitory when it reached her, studying political science at the college she currently attended. There was an exam the next day, and she wanted to be prepared... but fate had other ideas. Flashes of white invaded her vision, causing her chest to well up with excitement. Curious, she rose to her feet and set her book to the side. It could wait._

 _ **He** was enjoying authentic Altean food at a café that had decided to accommodate the alien invaders. Not that he minded - he found the food delicious, in spite of the fact that most other human beings hated it. Teal crept in on the corners of his vision, and he rose to his feet, pulled in the direction of the energy's source. But not without taking his plate with him, of course._

 _Finally, **he** had been attending a gala that his prominent parents had forced him to go to. Bored out of his mind, he counted the purple color that came to him as a sort of blessing (although, at first, he had thought he was getting a migraine.) Straightening his jacket, he rose from the table he was seated at and promptly left the gala in search of whatever it was that was calling to him._

* * *

 **{[** Voltron **]}**

* * *

 ** _Luxin's POV_**

Luxin had been surprised to find that there were suitable paladins much closer than two hundred miles. In fact, though it would still take some time for them to reach himself and Arin, it wasn't going to be nearly as long as he had initially been anticipating. Which was excellent, considering he was tiring of Arin's stories. They must have been stuck in the Altean ship for many hours at that point, because he had heard dozens of stories about the young teen's family, childhood, and time at what she called the Galaxy Garrison. So much so that her voice was growing hoarse. The Altean was tempted to tell her to stop, but the stories _were_ entertaining, and it wasn't as though he disliked the small human.

But the sense of urgency to escape the situation they were in escalated a thousand fold when, in the middle of a story about one of Arin's eleven-year-old twin brother's getting the lead in his school play about something called "Romeo and Juliet," the girl's voice trailed off. At first, Luxin had thought that she was (finally, finally, _finally_ ) taking a rest, but that suspicion was proven incorrect only a few ticks later, when she started to speak once more.

 _"Hey, Luxin?"_ she asked, voice slightly rough simply from how long she'd been talking. _"A few of the guards are here to take me somewhere else. What should I do?"_

The Altean furrowed his brows and made an attempt to see through her eyes, but their connection wasn't strong enough for that. "Is there any chance you'd be able to fight them? Maybe get away and come find me so that we can finally get out of here?" It was a long shot, but Arin had proven herself fairly physically capable before.

A soft sound of disapproval came from the teen, and Luxin could picture her shaking her head. _"I don't think so. They've got guns."_

"Quiznak."

 _"You're tellin' me!"_

The two fell silent for a couple seconds, wherein Luxin expected the guards were escorting Arin out of the cell. He could practically _feel_ the gears in her primitive, human brain turning over and over again, trying to find some way out of the situation.

 _"...I'm gonna try and escape, anyway."_

Luxin rolled his eyes and heaved a sigh. Why was he not surprised?

* * *

 **{[** Voltron **]}**

* * *

 _ **Blake's POV**_

It hadn't taken long for Blake to find the source of the golden energy she'd felt pulling her from the rooftop. A massive Altean castleship stood in place of what used to be the White House (supposedly a show of the Altean people's complete takeover of the United States government.) The energy emanating from it flashed in the color she'd originally pictured, but she couldn't reach it just yet. Much like the White House had been, this castleship was heavily defended. Instead of a fence, it was surrounded by a blue forcefield, and Blake did not dare to touch it. Instead, she looped around, studying it thoroughly in an attempt to get a grasp on what she might be able to do in order to reach the ship.

She had gone around it twice when she ran into them. Them, in this instance, being a small group of four other teenagers - three boys, and one girl. Blake thought she might have recognized one or two of them from her time in the Garrison, but there wasn't enough time to dwell on that now. Instead, the tall nineteen-year-old approached them, shoving her hands in the pockets of her ripped black jeans.

"You guys here for the same reason I am?" she asked, electric blue eyes narrowed as she took them all in. The young woman wasn't normally one for socialization of any type, but she figured that this was probably one of those times it was required. Especially when the four of them were very clearly studying the forcefield, just as she was.

The one who responded was one of the boys - he stood at around two inches less than her own five-foot-nine, with deep bronze skin and black hair that reached down to his jawline. Oddly enough, he was wearing a very nice black-and-white tuxedo. "If you're talking about the purple energy surrounding the castle, then yeah. That's what I'm here for," he replied, and four sets of brows knitted together in confusion.

"...The energy is obviously gray," stated the tallest of the group - he was a few inches taller than Blake, herself, with neck-length blackish hair and amber eyes.

Tuxedo-boy looked back at the castle, supposedly to check and see what color he saw, and the shortest boy spoke up. "I think it's more teal, actually," he said, lazily chewing on something that looked like yellow slop. Blake found Altean food to be highly disgusting, and apparently the other three did as well, for they took a sharp step away from the short boy. He didn't seem to notice, however. His dark brown eyes, partially obscured by his half-black, half-white hair, scanned the castle with a quiet thoughtfulness.

"Maybe it's all of those colors," placated the only other girl of the group - a thickly-curved blonde with stunning greenish blue eyes. She had a small smile on her lips, and her hands were held out in the signature, _'Why can't we all just be friends?'_ stance. "We're all here for the same reason, after all. I personally don't think that it matters."

Blake nodded her head once, running one hand over the shaved side of her hair. "Blondie's right," she agreed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Arguing like that isn't going to get us in there any faster."

The "blondie" in question shifted slightly, her smile not faltering in the slightest. "Um, my name's actually Nikolette. Nikolette Vestergaard," she corrected lightly.

"I'm Min," the shortest boy replied, having finished his gross Altean dish and tossed the bowl to the side. Fortunately, it was made of a sturdy plastic, so it did not shatter when it came into contact with the pavement at his feet.

Next, the boy in the tuxedo stepped up to speak. "My name is Kaiden King," he announced, a smirk on his face as he addressed the others. He didn't seem to have a problem with addressing the group, and stood with the perfect posture of a politician onstage.

A few seconds of silence passed before Blake decided that it was likely her turn. "Blake Noxic," she introduced shortly, and then all four of them turned their attention to the tallest boy, who shrugged one shoulder and introduced himself in the same way Blake had done. He looked violently uncomfortable with all the attention.

"Ren."

Nikolette grinned brightly, clearly pleased now that everyone wasn't arguing. "It's so nice to meet all of you!" she chirped, and was rewarded with a few nods and smiles from some of the others. Blake, however, was much more interested in figuring out how to get past the damned forcefield that surrounded the castle. The energy's glow was getting more and more dim as they stood there talking, and she didn't want to wait and see what happened when it faded entirely. She didn't want to miss this opportunity... whatever it happened to be.

"That's great and all, but there are more important things to do here," she stated calmly, narrowing her eyes at the castle. "Anybody got any ideas on how to get in that place?"

* * *

 **{[** Voltron **]}**

* * *

 _ **Arin's POV**_

 _A few minutes earlier..._

"They're shooting at me! They're shooting at me" she yelped, full-on sprinting down the darkened hallways of the ship. Bright pink beams of energy zapped past her, a few nearly making contact. Honestly, she hadn't expected them to actually use their weapons on her, because they hadn't done that before. After all, weren't the Alteans supposed to be peaceful?

Well... she supposed it _was_ kind of her fault... but still.

Luxin was freaking out in her mind, Arin was freaking out in reality, and everything was chaos. She was more than happy that the guards hadn't landed a solid shot on her yet, but damn if her knee wasn't screaming for a break. Perhaps one year wasn't entirely enough rest for a leg that had been so deeply damaged, she realized belatedly. But there was nothing she could do about it at the moment, so she forced it to go faster as she barreled through the halls, occasionally running facefirst into one. It was pretty dark, and she wasn't exactly paying attention to where she was heading.

 _"You're an idiot! A complete buffoon! What made you think that this was a_ good _idea, in any sense of the word?!"_ Luxin screeched as Arin narrowly avoided having one ear shot off. She could feel the heat from that shot. It was all becoming a bit too much, and she had no clue as to what she could possibly do to get out of there alive.

She didn't respond to the Altean screaming in her head, instead paying more attention to the ones chasing her. They were _far_ more terrifying, screaming things like, "Catch the paladin!" or "She knows too much!" or even "Blast her quiznaking head off!"

So much for peace.

Making a sharp left turn when the hall opened, Arin yelped when she connected hard with something solid and very much alive. She and the poor sap she'd accidentally tackled fell to the ground, and she was entirely unsurprised to find that it was another Altean guard that fell victim to her assault. Luckily, he had dropped the gun he held in his hands, and it clattered to the ground toward the teen. Instinctually, she picked it up and got to her feet, kicking the guard in his helmeted head once to hopefully stun him further before bolting back in the direction she was heading.

"I have a gun now," she updated Luxin, completely breathless. It had been a _long_ couple of days.

She heard the Altean scoff in her mind. _"And just what do you plan on doing with that?"_ he demanded, his voice cracking toward the end of his cry. _"That is not a human gun, you know!"_

Arin ducked, another pink energy bullet flashing over her head. "All you gotta do is pull the trigger, right? I got this!" she tried to assure the anxious man, though her own heart was hammering in her chest. Was it possible to have a heart attack at sixteen? Because she was ninety-nine percent sure that was going to happen.

Fortunately for the escapee, there was a room up ahead at the end of the hall, and she ducked inside, wasting absolutely no time in closing it behind her and shooting the hand scanner with her pilfered weapon so that they wouldn't be able to come in after her.

Exhausted, she bent over, resting her hands on her knees and wheezing heavily. She stayed that way for a couple of moments, just catching her breath, before glancing around the room to try and figure out exactly _where_ she had trapped herself.

Holographic monitors and key pads were set up all the way around the room - which was empty, thank god. "I think I found some kind of control room," she told Luxin, who was still screaming at her through their mental connection. It was already getting pretty darn easy to ignore him, which she believed would come in handy. The man was pretty annoying, and to have him constantly connected to her mentally... it was like being stuck on the phone with that one aunt you _really_ don't want to talk to.

 _"Oh, yeah? What are you going to do? Pilot an Altean battleship?"_

"I could do without the sarcasm," Arin pouted, walking over to the biggest of the monitors and squinting at the indecipherable text scrolling across the screens. "And no. I'm gonna break an Altean battleship."

Before he could respond, she raised the gun she'd stolen, and fired a shot at the base of the computer system.

* * *

 **{[** Voltron **]}**

* * *

 _ **Blake's POV**_

 _Present time..._

No sooner had she asked the question than a distant explosion sounded, followed by the flickering, and then the complete disappearance of the forcefield. The five teens stood, shellshocked for just a moment, before the boy named Kaiden shrugged his shoulders and trotted toward the ship. He got about a fourth of the way there, and then turned, arching a brow at the four others (who had yet to move from their positions.)

"There's a saying - _don't look a gift horse in the mouth._ I think we should take that into consideration, here," he told them, light brown eyes full of anticipation and mischief. It looked to Blake as though he was excited to go into the castleship itself.

Regardless, his words were enough to get the other four going, and they jogged after him. The energy was tantalizing, alluring, and felt like it was cLalling her very name as she approached. Looking at the others, it became clear that they were experiencing a similar type of feeling. Not because they were smiling or anything like that, but because their eyes were so fixated on the castle that Blake was the only one capable of taking her eyes off of it.

The five of them reached the castle, surprised to find that the door was wide open. Apparently, whatever had caused the explosion before had taken out the power on the ship - even if it was just momentarily. Taking Kaiden's advice, they all took the opportunity for what it was and just walked in, albeit with some measure of caution. They weren't idiots, after all, and a couple of them even seemed hesitant.

Even so, they all made their way inside.

Blake moved to take the lead, eyes narrowed against the darkness inside. Luckily for all of them, Ren had his phone fully charged, so they could use that as a flashlight to fend off the worst of the blackness surrounding them.

The energy was palpable once they began traversing the halls. None of them spoke - it was quiet inside, and Blake suspected that they didn't want to disrupt that. There was always the chance that the Alteans could find them there, and Blake really did not want to deal with that at the moment. There were no recorded cases of an Altean actually causing serious damage to a human being, but, then again, not many humans had ever broken into one of their massive battleships.

This was probably a first.

"Intruders!" shouted a voice from their right - the hall had split, and an Altean guard was approaching, gun drawn and at the ready. "Halt! State your names and intentions!"

And they all halted - for a second, at least. Blake had come this far after the energy, and she'd be damned if she was going to be stopped by a single Altean. She lunged forward, swinging one leg around to kick the gun out of his hands. Then, when he raised his fists to protect himself, the teen had to dodge backward to avoid a sharp punch that likely would've knocked her on her ass.

The Altean went after her, and she feinted back again, attempting to gauge when and where to strike. Blake ducked down to dodge another large fist, and looked up just in time to see a cell phone flying through the air. The corner of it connected perfectly between the Altean soldier's eyes, and he went down like a sack of bricks. Blake raised her brows and looked over her shoulder - all of the other teens were staring, wide-eyed, at Kaiden, who had his arm outstretched. Apparently, the tuxedoed boy had been the one to use the cell phone as a sort of projectile.

"Thanks," a surprised Blake told him, and he just shrugged with a smug little grin.

"No problem," he responded, trotting up to pick up his discarded phone. Illuminated by Ren's own phone, it was clear that the screen was completely shattered. Kaiden just dropped it back to the ground, unfazed. "I learned that trick from another student at the Garrison. It's stupid, but it works when you don't have much else to use as a weapon." Huh. So he'd been a student at the Garrison, too, then. Perhaps they'd met at some point.

But they could always talk about that later. For now, they needed to keep going.

First, though, Nikolette insisted on bending down to check and see if the Altean was still breathing, because at the moment, she was the only one who cared. After making sure he was, the group continued on their way, down the hall the guard had been in.

They traveled in companionable silence for around fifteen minutes before anything else remotely interesting happened, because this castle-ship-thing was massive. And this time, they weren't interrupted by an Altean - no, in this instance, the quiet was broken by none other than a vent. It popped off the wall above their heads and Ren shone the light immediately in that general direction.

A human head and shoulders popped out of the hole left by the vent's cover - it was a young girl, her skin blackened with soot and her hair spiked up on one side, which were both likely from the distant explosion they'd heard. Pale green eyes looked almost clear in the light from the phone, and they widened when they spotted the group. "You guys aren't gonna shoot me, are you?" she asked, one brow quirking as her expression morphed into something more skeptical.

The five glanced between one another, a bit dumbfounded, and then looked back at the girl in the vent. "None of us even have a weapon," Blake told her, belatedly realizing it might have been a good idea to pick up that Altean's gun from before. Maybe having it would've been more useful.

"Do you need one?" the girl asked, producing a slightly-sooty Altean gun from the vent behind her. "I'm not a very good shot with this thing."

Min stepped up to take the weapon from her, studying it as it rested in his palms. "I'm a pretty good shot with normal guns," he explained to the group, and the girl slithered her way out of the vent to place her feet on solid metal beneath her.

"What's your name?" Nikolette asked the girl, a smile forming on her lips. Apparently, she was one of the friendlier of the bunch.

The sooty girl mirrored her smile, a single dimple popping out on her left cheek. "My name's Arin Galinsky," she told the blonde. Blake vaguely remembered that name from her time spent at the Garrison. "Who are all of you?"

In turn, they all introduced themselves, starting with Nikolette and ending with Kaiden. Arin's eyes widened when he said his name, and she trotted forward to get a closer look at him. Her mouth popped open, and then she offered him a bright grin. "Kai! Wow, what are the odds?" she asked, reaching out to pat him roughly on the shoulder. Kaiden gave her a completely blank, unamused face in return. "It's been way too long! Like, a whole year, right?"

"And... who the hell are you?" the dark boy asked, light brown eyes dull as he regarded her.

Arin blinked a few times, clearly confused, before she responded, "We were teammates. You were our team's engineer - I was the pilot? That boring dude - John - was our communications guy? Remember?" she prompted, tipping her head to the side. "We literally spent a year as together as a team."

Kaiden shrugged one shoulder. "Sorry, not ringing any bells there, Amy."

"Arin."

"Right."

The Galinsky girl opened her mouth to speak again, then jumped and looked sheepish. "Right, sorry, Luxin," she said, reaching into her jacket pocket and pulling out a colorful hexagon. "I'm assuming these guys are the other paladins. Tell me if I'm wrong." A smirk crept onto her lips and she tossed the object toward Kaiden, who reached out to grab it on instinct. "Catch."

All of the teens watched in confusion, and mild awe, as the purple section of the hexagon illuminated at the boy's touch - namely, Kaiden himself.

There were a few beats of silence before the boy extended his hand with the object on it toward the others. "He says we should all touch it at the same time," he stated, watching the hexagon with wide eyes.

Well. This day couldn't get much weirder. Blake stepped forward first, placing a finger on the gold side, which lit up under her touch. After her came Min, then Nikolette, Ren, and Arin. Each of their respective colors shone brightly when they made contact, and the shape itself glowed from within. She wasn't exactly sure why, but feelings of excitement, bewilderment, and pure inspiration filled her chest as she watched the light spill out from the touch of the six hands at once. And then a voice rang out from within her mind, stealing the breath from her chest.

 _"Hello, paladins."_

"That's Luxin," Arin explained to the group, green eyes scanning each of their faces. "He's an asshole."

Blake could've sworn that the voice she'd just heard sighed before he continued, _"You all have been called here today for a higher purpose. Since we are short on time, I believe it would be easier to simply show you."_

Vivid imagery burst from behind Blake's skull - giant, beautiful metallic Lions running across the sky to join together. In their stead stood a massive robot, painted in the colors of the hexagon itself. Inside the Lions were each of them - Arin in Orange, Kaiden in Purple, Ren in Gray, Min in Teal, Nikolette in White, and Blake in Gold. Stars and planets and people of all races - human and inhuman - appeared, and the Altean flags were removed from the skies.

 _We're supposed to save the world._

The realization hit hard, and Blake's eyes widened at the implication. "Are you sure about this?" she asked the voice - _Luxin_ , she reminded herself. He had a name.

 _"Honestly? Not at all,"_ came the response, and Arin scoffed.

"See? Asshole."

Luxin groaned and Blake got an image of him pinching the bridge of his nose. _"As I was saying, I am entirely uncertain about any of this. However, in this moment, you six are the universes' only hope."_

This time, it was Kaiden who snorted. "You understand that you suck at inspirational speeches, right?"

 _"I'm a scientist, not a wordsmith,"_ Luxin defended himself, and surprisingly, the group all let out nervous chuckles. This whole situation was so absurd, and the banter seemed so out of place... it just couldn't _not_ be funny. Blake hadn't known this group for very long, but from what she'd seen... they were probably the least qualified to save the universe out of literally everyone that existed.

Ren spoke up from where he stood across from Blake. "Do we know where these Lions are?" he asked, amber eyes narrowed as he watched the hexagon.

Luxin was silent for a second before he spoke, _"Well, it seems we're in luck. It just so happens that the nearest Lion is... right under our feet!"_ He sounded surprised. _"These bastards must have been keeping him hidden to stop Voltron from forming."_

"Is it the Orange Lion?" Arin asked, bouncing excitedly on the balls of her feet.

 _"I am afraid not,"_ the Altean voice told her, and Arin visibly deflated. _"It would appear that this particular Lion is the Teal Lion. So, you are the lucky paladin today."_ Blake had no idea how she could understand that his statement was directed at Min, but she certainly could. _"If you could lend me a bit of your energy, I can attempt to synchronize my quintessence with the Teal Lion's to awaken it for a brief period of time. At least until we can get you inside."_

Min nodded his head, a lazy smile stretching over his lips. "Take all you need, I guess."

He didn't sound particularly enthusiastic.

Regardless, Luxin went quiet once more, and the surrounding paladins held their breath. But then, all of a sudden, the world burst open with sound. A thundering, terrific roar shook the ground under their feet, and they took their hands off the hexagon. Still, Blake could hear Luxin as he screeched, _"Get out of the castle NOW!"_

None of the six of them needed to be told twice.

They all dashed out through the halls from where they came, Ren in the lead so that he could light the path. Though, really, the phone flashlight was bouncing around so much so that it didn't help much at all. So they ran more on instinct than sight as the ground shook and crumbled, and the castleship groaned with some sort of unseen strain. A few times, Blake had to help a smaller paladin up after they fell down, but she honestly didn't mind much.

It appeared that they were going to get out scot-free, until the entrance was just in sight. Then, a dark figure stepped in front of them, blocking the light and brandishing his gun at the group. There was a massive goose-egg bump on his forehead, which told Blake that it was the same Altean guard from before.

"You are not going to get away from me this time," he growled, taking aim at them all.

Arin reacted swiftly, darting forward and leaping into the air to slam both feet into the Altean's chest at the same time. The breath whooshed from his body, and the both of them flopped to the ground, both landing hard with metallic clangs as they hit.

 _"Do you honestly never think before you act?"_ Luxin asked, his question directed at the Galinsky.

"No, she doesn't." Kaiden strolled over casually and arched one brow down at Arin before reaching one hand down in a halfhearted gesture to help her up. Regardless, the girl took it, brushing herself off afterward (though, honestly, it was a moot point, as she was absolutely filthy. Covered in sand and soot and dirt.)

Green eyes flashed in annoyance when she looked up at the tuxedoed boy. "You _do_ remember me!" she stated, affronted.

The other teen scoffed and rolled his eyes, a smirk playing out across his features. "Of course I remember you, ya dumbass. It's only been a year!" He laughed, showing off white teeth and crinkled skin around his eyes. "And you clearly haven't changed at all."

"And _you're_ already being a douchebag," she pouted, crossing her arms over her chest and giving him a tired glare.

Luxin decided to interject at that moment. _"Humans, the castle is quite literally about to crumble to the ground. Perhaps we could carry on this petty dispute outside, where we won't be crushed?"_ he snapped, and that was, once more, all the prompting they needed. The six jumped over the Altean guard's unconscious body like it was a hurdle, and once more, Nikolette insisted on making sure he wasn't dead. Only, this time, the blonde also insisted on dragging him out into the clear so that he wouldn't die when the castle _did_ collapse.

Blake begrudgingly assisted her.

The two of them got the Altean outside just as the castle gave one last groan and broke to pieces. Dust flew everywhere as it dropped to the ground, and the paladins had to cover their eyes to keep the debris out of them. The sound was deafening, only magnified by the roar of the Teal Lion as it shot out from underneath the fallen castle. Blake's eyes popped open wide as the green-blue creature shot into the air and dropped to the ground in a crouch, yellow eyes fixated on Min as the dust began to clear. She could've sworn she heard it purring at the teen.

Smiling, the black-and-white haired boy stepped forward and extended his hand to touch the muzzle of the beast, and its jaws opened up for him to step inside. Which he did, happily, leaving the other five paladins staring slack-jawed at his disappearance.

Had... had it eaten him?

 _"Are you humans all completely daft?"_ Luxin's voice called out to them through their mental link, snapping them back to reality. _"Get in after him! We've got work to do!"_

And, so... they did.

* * *

 **{[** Voltron **]}**

* * *

 **An -** _Hey, guys! I was hoping to get this chapter out earlier, but then it got longer and longer and longer, until it took me six or seven hours to finish! It's 5,222+ words long, so I hope you can understand the slight delay, there xD_

 ** _CREDITS_**

 ** _Blake Noxin - Fool Arcana Kaiju_**

 _ **Ren Chevalier - HiroshitheHawk**_

 _ **Nikolette Vestergaard - Azlea**_

 ** _Min-Seo Kang - kazumiokazaki_**

 ** _Kaiden King -_ Altomi**

 _Here's the other paladins! I absolutely adore the group we've got. If your character was not accepted, please do not feel bad. I couldn't have 15 paladins forming Voltron, and though each and every character I received was absolutely awesome, I couldn't take them all. I just went with who I thought would fit in best, so please don't be upset if you didn't get in. I'll still be accepting side or supporting characters, preferably of alien races, later on in the story!_

 _Oh, and for the people who did get into the story, please begin telling me what your characters thought of the other paladins. It'll be very important for how I write later on down the line._

 _And... that's about it! Read, review, fave, follow, and enjoy~_

 _Love,_

 _anim8or_


	4. Chapter II

**Kaiden's POV**

Kaiden had been expecting another battle once they reached the sky, but it seemed that the Alteans on the ground were not interested in chasing them. At least, not for the moment. Min took them up, per Luxin's orders, and they reached the stratosphere far faster than the King boy ever thought possible. It had been far faster than Arin had ever flown them in any of the simulators or test runs, and that was saying something. While the girl had been a good pilot, she was a fan of piloting _quickly._ The only thing that made it bearable was the fact that she rarely crashed - Kaiden was confident in himself and himself only, and therefore had a few issues trusting the capabilities of other people. Namely the tiny girl who he had met when she was fourteen, and who he had expected to kill them all in the test flights.

Luckily for all three of them - even the boring guy, John, - what Arin lacked in intelligence, she made up for in physical prowess and instincts.

...And she was kind of funny to watch. All that energy had to go _somewhere_ , and the black-haired young man enjoyed the show. He, too, had oodles of energy to get rid of, and he and Arin together had wrecked havoc on the Garrison during that year. Poor John - all the dull lad could do was watch as his teammates screwed up his life. He hadn't been bold enough to stand up to them; hadn't been passionate enough to ask the higher-ups to transfer to another team. Basically, he'd just existed whilst Arin and Kaiden snuck out, stole food, and broke into sections of the Garrison that they weren't supposed to be in. Of course, Kaiden had done the hacking and basically anything else to do with using one's brain. The girl in question was more the brute force; she had certainly not been afraid to damage property.

But that came to an end after a year. All Kaiden had heard of the crash was that it had been devastating (millions of dollars worth of damage,) and that Arin was the only student involved. They had refused to disclose anything about her injuries - or lack of them - and had simply said that she would not be returning to the Garrison. So, in the meantime, Kaiden was saddled with another boring doofus for a teammate, to add alongside John. Her name had been Penelope, and she was such a stickler.

The girl wouldn't even come with him to hack into the computers to learn more about the crash.

No dice.

Though he would never admit it to her face, Arin had been leaps and bounds more enjoyable to be around than either John or Penelope, and Kaiden had been extremely bored in her absence. (Though he _had_ experienced much fewer headaches when she was gone.) But he hadn't expected to run into her again - on an Altean castleship, no less! - in his life, but he wasn't one for warm reunions. So he'd teased her; he'd pretended to not know who she was (and, to be fair, she did look different. Skinnier, less tan... kinda wimpy-looking) just to get a rise out of her. The Galinsky had always had a temper, and it was hilarious to rile her up.

There had been none of that after the six - seven, counting Luxin - of them had boarded the Teal Lion.

The small girl had mumbled something about, _"Estoy tan cansado. Dios mio,"_ and then curled up in a corner of the cockpit, falling asleep near instantaneously. She didn't even wake when the Lion hit the stratosphere and entered space itself... which was bumpy, to say the least. Though Min was not a bad flyer, the shorter boy was having some issues with the Lion. It wasn't the same as flying a pod or simulator, after all, so Kaiden couldn't fault him for that.

What he _did_ fault him for was eating that Altean food before. That was disgusting.

"This is actually not that bad," the blonde girl - Nikolette - stated as she held onto the back of Min's seat. In spite of her statement, her knuckles were solid white from how hard she was gripping the... whatever material the seat was made from. Kaiden hadn't really had the time to analyze the contraption, but his fingers were itching with the desire to tear it apart and see what was inside.

If Luxin was right, then he had one of these beasts that he could call his own. Perhaps the Purple Lion wouldn't be too averse to being tinkered with. It was the logical one, after all.

 _"Just keep letting Teal take the lead,"_ Luxin said, directed at Min though everyone could hear him. _"He knows where to go."_

Kaiden arched a brow and crossed his arms, staring out the window as they passed the moon. "And... where is that, exactly?" he questioned, moving to lean against one of the inner walls of the cockpit. A bit of turbulence hit and he nearly stepped on Arin's hand - which would have served her right for falling asleep in front of four strangers, the ghost of a dead alien, and a person who used to tease her mercilessly...

It was beginning to occur to him just how absurd this situation was.

Fortunately for Arin, his foot missed her fingers by inches, and he straightened up as Luxin replied, _"Alfor - the man who built these Lions - and I had a... secret base, of sorts, several leaps away from Altea. Since we were building them to take down the monarchy, we knew that the other Alteans wouldn't have taken the coup well. So, we selected a small, desolate planet and started to build them there. And, if I am correct in my assumption that it has been untouched, we will find the White Lion still at the base."_

Nikolette smiled, nervously excited to meet her own Lion. They all were, Kaiden suspected. Even though it kind of pissed him off to have anything in common with that bleeding-heart of a paladin.

Honestly, saving the Altean soldiers who wanted to kill them? Yeah... he'd pass on that one.

A few beats of silence passed before Kaiden grew bored. Such an intelligent brain needed to do _something_ to pass the time, and since his favorite plaything was currently asleep, he'd have to go with the next best option. Which, in this situation, just so happened to be the creepy loner guy - _Ren,_ was it? - who was leaning against one of the walls across from the King boy.

The teen slid away from the wall to approach the taller man, his light brown eyes glinting in mild interest. Though he didn't currently give a shit about any of them - save for his former pilot, because she amused him, - he needed to do something to pass the time, and nothing was better than pissing somebody off.

"Hey, there, big guy," he began, and Ren's amber eyes flicked over to his before moving away once more. "So, I had a question. Do you ever talk, or is that brain of yours just full of empty mush?"

One of the taller boy's brows rose incredulously, and he curled one corner of his lip. "Fuck off," he grumbled, his fists clenching and teeth gritting together.

But Kaiden was not one to be deterred so easily. "You're pretty tall, in comparison to most people from Japan. You're Japanese, aren't you? I'm one-quarter Japanese, myself - on my mom's side." The other teen's reactions were pretty close to what he wanted - clenching fists, slight awkwardness, stifled temper. Though, honestly, he wanted a bit more. Arin, if she had caught on to his teasing by that point, would have already tried to fight him.

Maybe. The fact that she was asleep was disconcerting.

"The last thing we need right now is fighting." That was Blake, the other silent one. She was the Gold Lion's paladin - or, at least, she was _going_ to be, - which had already gotten under Kaiden's skin. He had a strong aversion to authority figures, and from what the intelligent young man could deduce, she was supposed to be the leader. And though she was already attempting a leader-like move or two (such as breaking up fights,) Kaiden wasn't anywhere close to accepting her.

He was closer to accepting _Luxin_ as the leader.

Kaiden smirked, shrugging one shoulder. "I was simply asking innocent questions. We're not fighting." _Not yet._ "If anything, I'm trying to make a friend." _He was not._ In fact, he wasn't interested in becoming friends with _anyone_ on the team. Not even Arin, though he supposed they hadn't even been friends in the Garrison. It had been more like partners in crime.

 _"I swear to quiznak. You humans are the most frustrating of creatures,"_ the deceased Altean sighed in their ears, then directed his voice at Kaiden. _"I understand that this is an odd situation. I understand that you might be frightened, or worried, but taking your issues out on one another is not the way to cope with those negative feelings."_ Well, it had worked before. Why not now? _"We are about to make a jump, and we will be at the base soon. Please refrain from an all-out brawl until we get out of the Lion."_

Min spoke up from the pilot's seat. "Teal wouldn't like that," he called over his shoulder, his eyes half-lidded. Was he about to fall asleep, too?

"Is Teal talking to you?" Nikolette asked, leaning over the seat so that she could get a better view of the control panel. The damned saint was obviously trying hard to interact with the others, though most of them (particularly the ones who were awake,) were absolutely not the friendly types. Min _was_ likely her best bet for a pal at the moment.

The small pilot nodded his head, a lazy grin spreading over his lips. "Yeah, he's been talking to me since we connected our energies," he explained, brushing a hand over part of the glowing surface of the dashboard. "It's kinda like Luxin, but Teal's talking just with me."

"That's so coo- _what is that?!_ " The blonde's statement broke off into a shriek when a dark, black hole suddenly opened up before them. Each of the paladins who were awake gaped openly at the foreign object. Kaiden's own heart dropped to the pit of his stomach - he suddenly did _not_ want to be here. He didn't trust the pilot, he didn't trust these people, he didn't like this situation, he didn't have _any control!_ He couldn't even get out of the freaking cockpit.

Nikolette screamed, and Arin jumped up so quickly that she slammed her head on the bottom of some type of jutting-out piece of metal that Kaiden didn't care enough about to analyze at the moment. The smallest girl blinked owlishly, glanced around at all the frightened faces, then at the black void in front of them. "Calm down - s'nothing," she groaned, rubbing her head and flopping back down on the floor. "I'm tryin'a sleep. Luxin, tell 'em."

Five sets of wide eyes snapped to her, astonished that she wasn't currently terrified, before Luxin's voice sounded in their minds.

 _"I wanted them to freak out a bit - as payment for the constant stress they're putting me under,"_ the Altean protested, before clearing his throat (verbally) and continuing on with his explanation. _"This is what I was talking about - the jump. We're going to portal through this and come out on the other side, where the base is located."_ Arin grunted meaningfully, and Kaiden could've sworn that he could hear Luxin rolling his eyes. _"Also, please allow the Orange paladin some rest. She has been awake for over two days straight."_

The King boy arched a brow at the younger girl. "So, how did you know what that was?" he demanded, still slightly panicked.

A pair of green eyes locked on him murderously. "Kai, I swear, if you don't let me sleep, I will beat the shit out of you," she threatened in a non-threatening, sleep-slurred way. "Y'know I can do it. Done it before."

Luxin sighed heavily. _"We had a lot of time to talk before the rest of you paladins showed up. We exchanged stories and information in that time."_ That made sense, kind of, but Kaiden still didn't trust this situation one bit. Absolutely no part of him wanted to be anywhere near this Lion, or in space, with these people he hardly knew and certainly did not lie.

But there was no getting out now. Not when they were less than fifty feet from the portal.

* * *

 **{[** Voltron **]}**

* * *

 **Min's POV**

It hadn't been nearly as hard to pilot a massive, armored battle Lion as Min had thought it would be. True, he hadn't had a lot of time to think about the idea of it, but still. Teal had known where he was going, and his Lion was very gentle and quiet through their mind link. Almost as though he just understood the young man's dislike of loud noises. He almost hadn't even heard Ren and Kaiden's almost-fight behind him, because Teal had been sending out a near-constant purring vibration through Min's mind. Apparently, the metallic beast was pleased to finally have a paladin behind the wheel.

Or, the controls, at least. Figure of speech.

The portal thingy had been pretty, and kind of fun once they got past the initial scariness of it. Luxin had been as nice as possible in explaining it to them, and the jump had been relatively smooth. Teal was a nice Lion - so calm through the entire ordeal that Min nearly fell asleep. Which wasn't exactly uncommon, but it was strange under the circumstances. The purring and constant soothing emotions he was sending definitely helped.

Min had been surprised at the size of the base. The white structure took up a sizeable portion of the small, nondescript planet that it rested on. It resembled the Altean ships from Earth, but there were certainly differences. Like the purple spires on top, the lack of an Altean flag, and the vines growing up the sides of the base.

"Did you say that you and one other person built this place?" the one called Blake asked Luxin as they approached the planet.

The Altean was smiling, Min could tell. _"No, we had help from several individuals of two separate races known as the Olkari and the Galra."_ His aura sent of a bit of a melancholy feel, and none of them felt quite comfortable enough to address it. Min wondered, vaguely, if the other alien specie were even alive now. After all, they had no idea how long Luxin had been dead. It could have been three days, or it could've been ten thousand years.

What had changed since then? How old were the Lions?

None of those questions seemed relevant at the moment, so Min instead focused on bringing Teal to the ground without crashing him. They kicked up a lot of greenish-gold dust from the surface of the planet, and the descent was slightly shaky due to the change in gravity, but otherwise, it was fine.

Luxin directed him to a set of wide, double doors that swished open (with much protest and a loud whine and shudder) when they approached so that Teal could step inside. At the entrance of the Lion, the lights flickered a few times, before turning on entirely and bathing the... hangar, of sorts, with a harsh, fluorescent light. Compared to the darkness of space, it was hard on the eyes, and Min had to squeeze his closed for several moments before he could open them again.

The boy got up from his seat and stretched luxuriously, a grin stretching across his lips. "Mmm... naptime," he stated, turning to exit his Lion. "Luxin, do you have any beds in this place?"

He could sense the man's hesitation before he replied. _"I understand that you are all very tired, and that it has been a long day, but it is not over yet."_ He sounded genuinely sorry for them. _"I am sorry, but this cannot wait another day. Now that you are here, paladins, I can find the coordinates of the Lions, and finding them is our highest priority right now."_

"Maybe it's _your_ highest priority," Kaiden muttered, but Luxin ignored him.

Instead, the Altean directed his attention to Min. _"Since you are already in possession of Teal, I must ask you to take one of your fellow paladins to find their Lion. The White Lion is here, as well, but it will not awaken until we are in possession of all of the other five."_ He must've been able to feel Min's hesitation and disappointment through their mind link. _"I know that it is not an ideal situation, but please try and put it into perspective."_

Well... it _was_ about the fate of the universe. Perhaps a nap could wait for a minute.

"Sure thing," he said in return, turning back around to his control panel. "But I'm taking big guy over there. He's the quietest." It was a minor stipulation, so Min thought that his request was reasonable.

Apparently, so did Luxin. _"Very well. Get suited up, and you two will be ready to go find the Gray Lion."_

* * *

 **{[** Voltron **]}**

* * *

 **Ren's POV**

The suit that Luxin gave him fit nicely against his tall frame, not chafing or tugging uncomfortably as Ren walked back to the Teal Lion with the shortest paladin leading the way. The Altean had given them the coordinates to find his own Lion, and though the location wasn't particularly far away, the tallest paladin couldn't help but feel... a bit nervous about it. Not necessarily to meet the giant Lion that he would be flying, or what they might run into on that faraway planet, but because he would be trapped in an enclosed space. Alone. With one single person.

Ren was _not_ good with people.

But Min had chosen him for his quietness, so maybe the younger teen wouldn't want to talk on the trip there and back.

Was that really the point of being a team, though? Ren had been part of a team before, in the Garrison, but it wasn't at the magnitude of Voltron - obviously. This whole connecting of the minds shit was really starting to get under Ren's skin. He'd never wanted to be anywhere near this close to anyone, and the sudden necessity for it was disconcerting, to say the least.

Nevertheless, he got into the Lion without complaint, and took up his usual position of leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. Min took them out of the hangar rather smoothly, and apparently (through the weird mind communication thing) got Teal to go in the direction he wanted him to go. Vaguely, the taller boy wondered if his own Lion would listen to him like that.

The two teens stayed that way, in complete silence, for an indeterminate amount of time. It was unbearably awkward, and the Chevalier boy spent most of his time studiously ignoring the other paladin, who, in turn, simply paid attention to where he was going. Or maybe he was sleeping - Ren couldn't fully tell.

There was just one thing that was bothering him... and he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Suddenly, the realization hit him, and he couldn't stop himself from blurting out the question that had invaded his mind. "Aren't you that guy from the Garrison who killed his own dad?" As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he realized that it had been way over the line. Ren was socially inept, but he wasn't _that_ socially inept, and he instantly regretted asking at all.

He saw the smaller boy's shoulders tense up ever-so-slightly, but Min didn't even look at him when he replied. "That's what they say," he said, voice strangely calm for what he'd just been asked.

Their conversation ended at that. Ren didn't want to know anymore, and he was fairly certain that Min didn't want to share.

The rest of the flight was spent in complete silence, and was even more awkward than before. Ren was sure that that was natural, since the two barely knew one another in the first place, and then he'd screwed up entirely with directly asking the younger boy if he'd committed patricide. But the whole Garrison had talked about that for a while, just as they'd talked about the tiny girl - Arin's - crash. Not a lot of details had been shared about either situation, and Ren guessed that the topics were pretty taboo.

Which is why he shouldn't have asked in the first place.

* * *

 **{[** Voltron **]}**

* * *

 **Nikolette's POV**

Her Lion was probably one of the most gorgeous things that had ever existed. Pearlescent white and massive - though not quite as big as Teal had been - the core of Voltron was stunning. And though it wasn't awake, and she could hardly connect with its energy, Nikolette could tell that it was a male. She wasn't sure why, or _how_ she knew, but she certainly did. The Danish girl was so completely enamored with him that she almost didn't hear the hangar doors open behind her.

"Hey," came another female voice as Blake walked into the room, clad in her golden paladin uniform. Nikolette thought they all looked cool in their outfits - even herself and the bit of "cushion" she carried on her body. The suits seemed to conform perfectly to whatever build the user had - from Arin's tiny, limber form, all the way to Ren's tall and built body.

Alteans were many millennia above humanity in terms of technology.

"Hey, yourself," Nikolette returned, smiling slightly as the Gold paladin scratched the back of her neck. "Are you ready to go? Did I take too long with White?"

As if sensing her anxiety - though, to be fair, Nikolette was never good at hiding it in the first place - Blake offered a smile down at her. "I'm ready, and nah. Luxin just said that one of the pods in that big room down the hall was ready for departure." One of her dark eyebrows raised. "Are you sure you're good with taking me to my Lion? Because I'm cool with going on my own."

The blonde raised her hands quickly. "No, no, no. I want to go with you," she amended quickly, tucking her hair behind her ears so that she could slide her helmet on more comfortably. "Though it's probably best if you drive. I never did go to the Garrison, so I'm not sure I can fly one of these things." Her brother had been the pilot of the family, after all.

Blake gave her a nod and slight smile, and the two headed down to the pods.

The inside of the room was large, and not unlike an Earthly airplane hangar, but the ceiling opened up in round circles for the small pods to fly up through. Luckily for Nikolette, Blake was a good pilot, and didn't even touch the sides of the opening when she brought the pod upward and out into the sky. She hardly even felt the turbulence as they exited the atmosphere and reentered space.

"So, where did Luxin say the Gold Lion was?" Nikolette asked, eager to fill up the silence with talking. She fiddled around with her untransformed bayard in her hands as she waited on a response - when that thing had turned into a crossbow in her hands, she'd nearly panicked, but the fear had been overcome with the sheer amazingness that was the tech she had in her palms.

The other girl hummed lightly in response as she keyed in the coordinates on the small screen before them. "It's a bit further out than the Gray Lion, but closer than the Purple and Orange ones. We'll have it soon enough." She sounded pretty confident in her statement.

Nikolette shifted in her seat, feeling her brows knit together. "What if we have to fight for it? Like, what if there are bad aliens on the planet and they won't just give the Lion to us?" Fighting was... absolutely not the Vestergaard's thing. She was much more of a peacemaker, unlike most (if not all) of the other paladins. There was no question as to why she was supposed to be the White paladin, Luxin had said.

A shrug of her shoulder was Blake's initial reaction to the questions. "Then we fight," she stated, and the blonde recalled the expertise Blake had shown when she handled her own bayard - a sword that looked about a thousand times more intimidating than Nikolette's own crossbow. "Not much else to do in that situation, really."

"But I'm not really a fighter..." the younger girl trailed off, looking down at her lap. "I can't help but think that there might have been some mistake with Luxin calling to me to become a paladin."

Bright blue eyes flicked over to her for a heartbeat before glancing back at the starfield ahead. "Pretty sure we're all having those thoughts right now. Even Luxin," she told her, keeping her hands firmly on the controls for the pod. "But, in this situation, we can't let it get to us. You've got a family, don't you?" Nikolette nodded her head. "You want to protect them, don't you?" Again, she nodded. "Then you try. Don't worry about not being good enough for it, and don't worry about the _what ifs_ or _maybes_." Nikolette blinked owlishly at the other teen, tipping her head to the sided. The tone of her voice had shifted into something almost... inspirational? It was much different than it had been before.

"I think you're gonna be a good leader," the blonde remarked, a smile forming on her lips.

Blake's nose crinkled a bit, and she offered a small smirk of her own. "And I think you're gonna be a good paladin," she reassured, reaching over to pat Nikolette's shoulder. It was an awkward move, but appreciated. The thought was there.

Perhaps this whole Voltron thing wasn't so bad, after all.

* * *

 **{[** Voltron **]}**

* * *

 **An -** _It's a little shorter than last time, but there's a lot less going on in this chapter than the other one. I wanted to get into a bit more of the character's personalities, and I think that switching the POV so many times in this chapter helped with that._

 _Maybe._

 _Probably not._

 _Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! I'll try and get the next chapter up in a couple of days. There will be a lot more action, and probably a much higher word count in the next one!_

 _Question of the Day (please answer in reviews!): Who is your favorite paladin from VLD?  
_ _Mine is Pidge!_

 _Thank you for reading, and please take the time to review!_

 _Love,_

 _anim8or_


	5. Chapter III

**Arin's POV**

"I can't believe my bayard is a freaking medieval weapon!" lamented Kaiden, for about the sixteenth time since they'd all received their tools. Arin had been quite fine with her own, because - _come on_ \- a staff with an energy blade on both ends? It was awesome, and she couldn't _wait_ to try it out!

But perhaps if she'd gotten a simple bow and arrow, she might have been a little disappointed, too.

As it would happen, however, she didn't think that this was any time to be complaining about the type of weapon that they had to work with. The two of them were in a pod on their way to pick up their very own giant, robotic Lions! Luxin had paired them together because their Lions were the furthest ones out, and were the closest together.

So, Arin just offered her companion a small smile as she drove the pod in the direction of the Purple Lion. "At least you have a weapon. Plus it's one that you can use from far away, so that you don't have to worry about bruising your puny little body," she teased, smoothly pulling the pod to the side in order to avoid an incoming asteroid. Of course one of the Lions had to be in a dense, dangerous asteroid field.

At least their craft was small enough to get through it without getting hit, for the most part.

"Look, Galinsky, I don't know if you realize this or not, but you're a _lot_ littler than I am," Kai told her in return, and Arin felt her cheeks flame up in embarrassment. She hadn't always been this tiny, but now that she'd lost all that muscle mass, she was finding it highly difficult to get back.

Instead of giving him a verbal response, she jerked the pod to the side. The G-force that came with the sudden movement caused Kaiden's head to slam against the window to his right - it probably would've really hurt, if he hadn't had his helmet on. It probably still did.

The black-haired boy shot her a glare and she grinned innocently as they continued on their way.

Fortunately, they only had to sit in silence for a few moments, because as they rose above the crest of a particularly large asteroid, purple invaded the windshield. Without warning, the pod crashed directly into the side of the Purple Lion - a beautiful splash of color against the vast darkness of space. The pod itself was instantly rendered inoperable, but Arin wasn't worried about that. They could fit the small craft inside the Lion to take it back to base, and she and the excessively-smart Kaiden would be able to fix it up.

The boy's light brown eyes scanned the giant Lion, a broad smile forming on his face. "It's incredible!" he enthused, closing his helmet and opening the hatch (after his partner had finished closing her own helmet, of course.) "We've gotta get inside!"

Arin spared only a second trying to get the controls on the pod working before the excitement was too much and she instead decided to jump into space after the King boy. Their suits had jetpacks on them, after all - there was no need to worry about getting lost. A grin broke out on her own face as she chased him into the Lion's mouth. "Shotgun!"

Huh. That had been spectacularly easy.

* * *

 **{[** Voltron **]}**

* * *

 **Min's POV**

This was by far the most difficult thing Min had ever experienced in his entire life. He and Ren had decided to take Teal down to the surface of the small, half-broken planet that the Gray Lion was supposed to be found on, and things had looked like they were going to be quite simple. In fact, they had initially thought that the planet was abandoned, because of the lack of any type of plant life or any sign of biological entities. The air here wasn't even breathable - they had to keep their masks closed the entire time, or they would instantly burn to death. Both he and Ren, who he was barely speaking to at the moment, had assumed that nothing could live here.

Needless to say, they had assumed wrong.

It had only been after they'd walked for a couple miles that the trouble started. The ground was dry, cracked, and incredibly rocky, and so he and Ren were using those rocks to balance as they traversed the terrain. Which was all fine and good, because there was no way the Lion's weight would have been supported by this crackling ground. The problem began when Min placed his hand on one of those giant rocks, and it _moved._

The thing didn't move in the way of a rockslide or any other natural disaster. No, this movement was accompanied by a loud grunt and the scraping of claws on hard earth, and Min had leaped backward with a gasp of alarm.

Anyone would freak out if the ground had just come alive, right?!

Ren, who had been about ten feet in front of him, turned just in time to see the "rock" rise up on four legs. It resembled something like a lanky hippo, with six eyes and a long tail, and it had claws - big ones. And, on top of how terrifying the massive rockmonster was on its own, its awakening stirred up the rising of its friends, who were all pissed off to find that they had intruders on their soil. So, now Min and Ren were sprinting as quickly as they could across the dry earth, with Min turning every-so-often to fire his bayard (which happened to be a badass sniper rifle) at their pursuers.

It wasn't doing much.

The taller boy was doing his best to help, too, but he wasn't able to do much with his bayard - not at long range. It took the form of one of those weird war-fan things, and worked better up-close. And neither of them wanted to get up-close with these rockmonsters. Above the screaming (from the two teens) and the grunting and thundering footsteps (of the rockmonsters,) the small device in Ren's free hand started to beep. "We're coming up on the Gray Lion!" called the taller teen, his breath coming out in harsh puffs. It was way too hot on this planet.

"We're also coming up on a cliff!" panted the younger, his narrowed eyes widening as they sprinted straight for the dropoff. At the moment, all he wanted to do was run back to Teal and fall asleep in the cockpit. Was that too much to ask?

Apparently, when the fate of the universe was in the balance.

Ren reached the edge first, hesitating only slightly and glancing over. They were faster than the rock beasts, but not by much, and Ren understood that. Before Min could get there, the older boy had already jumped over the ledge. The small teen was only able to witness the millisecond before the larger hit the mercury-silver water (or, what he hoped was water,) below.

Now, Min wasn't afraid of heights - not at all. But this was a big jump, and he couldn't help but stop in his tracks.

"Jump!" Ren called up, waving one arm from where he'd surfaced.

The rockmonsters were gaining, and Min had no other choice. He took one step back to get a running start, so that he wouldn't hit the cliff wall, before launching himself off the edge.

It was a huge drop, and took around five seconds for Min to actually hit the water. It was a miracle that he managed to keep hold on his bayard through the whole process, and he gripped it like a lifeline as he surfaced, eyes wide and owlish as he glanced at the other teen. Small rocks were still dropping from the cliff as the hippo-like monsters leaned over the edge, gnashing sharp teeth and letting out high-pitched wails as they attempted to find a way down.

Breathing hard and trying to catch his breath, Min kicked his legs under the liquid. It was thicker than water - harder to move in, but easier to stay afloat. It reminded him of half-congealed gelatin. "You said the Gray Lion was nearby, right?" he asked breathlessly, thankful that their helmets didn't let any of the thick water into their faces. He could hardly keep his head up.

The older boy seemed to be having a similar problem - Min could hardly see his arms moving just beneath the surface, but he was still panting hard behind his mask. "The scanner says we're right on top of i-" He broke off at the sound of a muffled roar, and the two looked down just in time to see vibrant yellow, robotic eyes shine through the water beneath them.

"Hi, Gray," both boys said in unison, practically melting with relief as the Lion broke the surface of the thick liquid.

It was probably one of the most beautiful things either one had ever seen.

* * *

 **{[** Voltron **]}**

* * *

 **Blake's POV**

Nikolette was a nice girl. Too nice for her own good, but Blake could hardly fault her for that. If she were to get stuck on an impromptu mission with any of the other five paladins, she was glad that it was the blonde girl. It was a good way to ease herself into the role that she was going to play from here on out - the leader of Voltron. That's what Luxin had told her, anyway... it wasn't exactly what _she_ wanted, but for the sake of the universe... did she really have a choice?

In her mind, the answer to that question was _"obviously not."_ She had a family back on Earth - she wanted to protect them.

The biggest obstacle, in her opinion, was her terrible people skills. Also, the fact that most of these teens were young, and had such strong personalities that she would need to balance out. Though she supposed that Nikolette's job on the team was equally as taxing - how the _quiznak_ were they supposed to do this?

Well... there was no time to think about it at the moment. Not when they were hovering over an alien planet, scanning all over for any trace of the Gold Lion. The planet seemed nice enough - lush greenery, colorful flowers, clear lakes, tall mountains. It would look pretty much like Earth, if the air itself didn't have this odd bluish tint to it. Scanners told them that the atmosphere was breathable, so Blake had made no move to cover her mouth with her helmet, and neither had Nikolette. Instead, the two just let themselves relax as they looked for any trace of gold on the surface of the planet.

"Do you have any siblings?" the blonde was asking, greenish-blue eyes changing from looking out the window to glancing at the older teen.

Blake smiled at the thought, recalling their faces. "Yeah - an older brother and a little sister," she explained, steering the pod around a mountain. This was nice - it almost felt like a leisurely car trip. "What about you?"

Nikolette grinned, picking at the knee of her paladin uniform. "Mhm. Older brother," she told her, then hummed as she thought of another question to ask. "Oh! Do you have a boyfriend?" Her tone rose slightly, taking on a sing-song lilt as she spoke.

"I don't really _play for that team_ ," Blake returned casually, taking her eyes off of the planet long enough to see Nikolette's face pale, then flush crimson.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean-"

Blake chuckled slightly, cutting her off. "Don't worry. You didn't mean anything by it," she calmed the other girl, turning her attention back to where they were going.

The pale girl's face had returned to somewhat of a normal shade, and she sighed with relief, apparently happy that Blake wasn't upset with her. "Well... whichever team you play for, it doesn't change my opinion of you," she assured, which Blake was grateful for. Even if it was a little unnecessary. She didn't really need that reassurance. "I still want to be your friend, and I still want you to lead Voltron. I'll still support you!"

"I'd hope something so trivial wouldn't effect other aspects of my life," Blake said in response, offering the younger girl a smile. "But I really appreciate your support. I have a feeling we'll all need someone as accepting as you on the team."

Nikolette blushed again and rested her hand on the window to her right. "I think that's kind of my job now - supporting. Isn't that, y'know, what the White Lion does?"

The dark-haired teen nodded her head once. "That's what I understand about it, yeah." She would've said more, had the small device sitting in between them on the seats started to beep. Apparently, they were approaching the Gold Lion's location. And, once she looked back up, she saw it instantly. On the tallest mountain peak, glinting in the soft sunlight that spilled onto the planet, stood the beast. It was at least ten thousand times as beautiful as Blake imagined it.

She wasted no time in sweeping the pod down and landing on the soil downhill of the Lion, as there was no room left on the ledge for it. Blake leaped out, eager to reach her own Lion. In hindsight, she probably should have known it wouldn't be as easy as just walking up to it, but for the moment, the Gold Lion was all that she was thinking of. Its beauty, its color, its energy... it felt like it was pulling on her very soul.

Blake hadn't taken three steps before she was surrounded, but not by any type of soldiers she could have imagined.

They were small, hardly reaching her knees, and _fuzzy._ Even the stoic Gold paladin had to admit, they were absolutely adorable.

"Halt in your tracks, sky-dweller!" chirped the boldest of them, a blue beast who approached her on two short, stubby legs. Its fluffy tail - almost like a lemur's - flicked behind it as it approached. "State your business! What wish do you have that is so important to approach the god of all?" It had a strange way of speaking; its words were slightly jumbled, and the tempo was off, but Blake got the gist of what it was talking about.

"That's not a god," she informed the creature carefully, pointing one finger at the Gold Lion.

All of the fuzzy beasts gasped, affronted.

"She blasphemes!" one squeaked, covering a smaller one's (presumably some sort of child's) ears with its palms.

Blake brought her brows together, confused. "I don't blaspheme!" she stated firmly, crossing her arms over her chest. "Who are you people, anyway?"

The blue one wrinkled its nose as it approached, a small knife in hand. It stopped mere feet away from Blake, refusing to take its eyes off of her (even to look at Nikolette, who was still hiding in the pod.) "We be the Eliskotarians. You are on planet Eliskotar, and this celestial being is god to these people." The creature's orange eyes narrowed sharply. "They call this one-" it began, pointing to itself, "-Kilma. Kilma is the head of this village, and Kilma is responsible for taking care of the god!"

"Look, I'm sorry for, uh... blaspheming," Blake said slowly, scratching the back of her neck. "But, uh, this god belongs to me. Or, I belong to it. Watch, please." With that, she moved to walk around the one called Kilma, and was only barely allowed to pass. The blue thing clearly didn't _want_ to hurt her.

She wasn't surprised when she glanced behind her and found the aliens following her in a herd as she approached the Gold Lion. It ignited at her arrival, eyes aglow and releasing a loud roar into the sky and turning to crouch before its paladin. Blake had to wonder how long it had been waiting for her to come to it.

Judging by the loud purring she could feel in her spirit, it had been _too long._

"The god kneels before her!" the Eliskotarians were gasping, murmuring between one another. "The sky-dweller be more powerful than even the god?!"

Blake had to stifle a chuckle. This could be fun.

The fluffy little creatures all fell to their faces before her, flat on the ground in some sort of reverent worship. "Oh, goddess! Forgive us! We be the ones who are blasphemers!" Kilma cried, tail tucking between their legs. "Please forgive this poor, wretched peoples! We shall do better! We shall!"

Aw. Now Blake felt kind of bad for them.

The tall girl walked forward and knelt down to pat the top of Kilma's head, planting a smile on her face. "I'm not a goddess, but I definitely won't hurt you," she assured, glancing over her shoulder at the Gold Lion. "That 'god' of yours is actually part of a bigger plan, and it will help protect you. That is, if you let me take it with me." Because she honestly didn't want to just come in and take the Lion without explaining things to these people. Who knew how many generations they'd worshipped the Gold Lion.

Kilma turned their orange eyes up to meet Blake's blue, their tail slowly untucking. "Goddess, you may take what belongs to you," they whispered, awestruck that whatever _"goddess"_ they believed Blake to be would touch them like she was. "We are unworthy of such kindness that you have bestowed."

Well. Apparently there was no getting it out of their heads - Blake was the new goddess of the Eliskotarian people.

"Thank you," she said with a forced smile, instead of trying to convince them of anything else. She rose to her feet and turned to head toward the Gold Lion, nodding at Nikolette so that the other girl would know to follow her in the pod. The blonde needed to learn to fly anyway, and the pod was easy.

Blake had just reached the opened mouth of her Lion when Kilma called from behind her - "Wait, goddess!"

The blue creature had run up the mountain after her, holding a small, golden flower in its right hand. It lifted it up to her, orange eyes round. "This plant be the Eliskotar rose - it shall never wilt, and it shall never be crushed. Would the goddess please accept this meager offering as a parting gift?" The creature sounded so hopeful, and flowers really weren't Blake's thing... but...

"Yes... thank you," she found herself saying as she took the plant from the alien's outstretched hands, holding it carefully in her own. It was quite beautiful, and looked more like a Bird of Paradise than an Earth rose. White petals were trimmed in something that looked like liquid gold, and Blake could swear that it was glowing. "It's beautiful."

Kilma smiled broadly and bowed its head. Blake took that as her queue to leave, but was once more called back by the blue fuzzball.

"Wait... please, goddess... what shall the Eliskotarian people call thee?" Kilma asked, voice thin and breathy.

Blake smiled, feeling a bit of pride swell in her chest as she faced the small alien. Her answer was confident and solid, stated without a hint of hesitation:

"Voltron."

* * *

 **{[** Voltron **]}**

* * *

 **Kaiden's POV**

"You know, I like the way you pilot much better than I liked the way Min pilots. He was kinda freaking me out." Arin, in contrast to her former state of exhaustion in the Teal Lion, was now a bundle of energy as she bounced around the Purple Lion's head, trying to push buttons and see what things did. She'd already accidentally fired two lasers into who-the-hell-knows outer space. Kaiden could only hope they hadn't hit any planets or ships.

He raised an eyebrow at her, skeptical. "Why? Min was much more solid than me. I have Purple shaking and jerking all over the place," he deadpanned, casting his gaze toward her for just a moment before looking back ahead. Not that there was much there to look at, other than a few distant stars.

The Galinsky hummed in response, sliding on her back to fit underneath the control panel at his feet. He didn't worry about her fiddling with it too much, like he intended to do once they got back to base. "You're right. No offense, but you kinda suck as a pilot." Kai harrumphed and tightened his grip on the controls - he wanted to yell at her that he was an _engineer,_ not a freaking _pilot,_ but he wasn't temperamental enough to do that. Instead, he just stayed quiet as she poked around under the control panel and thought about what she was going to say (which wasn't exactly common for Arin, but he hadn't seen her in a year, so maybe she'd changed in some ways.)

"I guess it's cause I trust you more."

The statement was sure; there was no question in her tone. But then again, she always _had_ been a decisive one. Still, Kaiden couldn't help but feel a bit... awkward about it. Probably because he didn't really trust any of their teammates - Arin included. Not to be rude or anything, because as far as piloting and stuff, he'd pick her out of any of them if he had to. It was actually really weird to be the one piloting _her_ instead of the other way around.

As if sensing his hesitation - because she always was better at the emotional side of things - Arin gave him a cheeky grin. "It's cool if you don't trust me, though. I don't really expect you to," she assured, then looked back out at the distant stars. Both of them had always wanted to go into space. "That was always hard for you, right? Even though we all three spent a year together, you never got around to trusting John. Or me, I guess." She didn't really sound disappointed, but Kaiden guessed that she was anyway. The truth was that he _had_ trusted her, kind of. To watch his back, to keep them safe when she flew their craft, to be truthful. Arin was probably one of the most honest people he'd ever met in his life.

"Did you say that Min was freaking you out before? I didn't think you were scared of anything," the older teen teased to change the subject a bit, eager to get it away from anything touchy and shit.

Arin snorted out a laugh and met his light brown eyes with her pale green. "Everybody's afraid of something, stupid," she remarked breezily.

The boy arched an eyebrow, slightly confused by her statement. "What exactly is there to be afraid of, then? I mean, you've been flying dozens of times before - in the simulator and out. You're not afraid of heights or something, are ya?" he questioned, leaning back in his seat and turning his attention to the girl.

"No, no. Heights are fun," she amended, hopping slightly so that she could sit on part of the control panel. Thankfully, her butt pushed no buttons, but Kaiden did not miss the slight wince and the rubbing of her left knee. "I think it's more that... I'm afraid of other people flying me around?" Now _that_ was a question - she sounded much more unsure. "Yeah. I think that's about as close as I can get to explaining it."

Still, Kaiden was confused. "You weren't afraid to let John fly us around on that three-person aircraft that they let us use," he accused, crossing one leg over the other. "Even after he crashed that one time, you laughed and wanted to go again."

Glass green eyes flicked toward the windshield and the galaxies beyond. "It's a more recent thing."

That statement alone would probably cue most people in on the fact that they shouldn't press for any further information, but Kaiden was stubborn. "Is it about the crash that made you leave the Garrison?" he asked, not taking his gaze from her face. He wasn't concerned, exactly. It was more that he just wanted to know more about what had happened. Kai was naturally curious, after all.

"I don't want to talk about that."

Alright - _that_ was enough to drop the subject. Something in her tone suggested that it would not be a good idea to proceed further, so instead, Kaiden decided to bring up another topic of discussion. "How are your brothers doing?" he asked, turning his attention back toward the front of the Lion, but not before he saw a small smile flicker on Arin's lips. She always loved to gush about her brothers.

"They're great - the twins are staying with our _abuela_ in Spain," she said warmly, leaning back to rest her head on the glass window.

Kaiden's brows knitted again. "In Spain? What, did she move there?" He'd always thought her grandmother lived right down the road from them, in Seattle.

"Mhm. After the Alteans showed up, she took Micah and Seth with her over there. I wouldn't go - couldn't go - because I had physical therapy to do." Huh. So the crash must've been worse than he'd initially imagined it being. "She always did miss Spain, so I didn't blame her for leaving me with just Dad."

The older teen frowned at that. " _Just_ your dad? Where did Doron go?" Her older brother had been an officer at the Garrison - a cool dude, albeit a little too friendly and unfazed by any sort of teasing. The stereotypical, adoring older sibling that Arin had always been highly proud of. Although, she was proud of all of her family _except_ her father, so he guessed that was probably irrelevant to the situation at hand.

His question was met with a shrug of the shoulders and a change of the subject. "So how are your parents, Kai? Still those snotty, politician douchebags?" Her voice was a bit too enthusiastic, but he figured she probably just wanted to talk about anything _other_ than Doron at the moment.

"Still those snotty, politician douchebags," Kaiden hummed with a grin. That was a good summary of them.

Arin was going to say more - he saw her mouth open out of the corner of his eye - but he cut her off. "We're approaching the planet that the Orange Lion is supposed to be on," he explained, circling Purple around so that they could see the planet itself. Thankfully, the spherical object wasn't too large, but it was dark and clouded. He suspected that there would be limited sight range on the descent down.

Screw it. They didn't really have a choice in the matter, so with a sigh, Kai angled his Lion toward the planet...

...only to find that it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. Entering the atmosphere was so shaky that Arin had been thrown to the floor and Kaiden had to tense every muscle in his body not to fall out of the seat, but once they actually hit the clouds, it became evident that sight distance wasn't so limited, after all. Apparently, the pressure in the air combined with whatever gases made it all up caused the clouds to all congregate at just the edge of the stratosphere. It was more like there was just a wall of clouds there to obscure visual on the planet itself, and once they got through it, they could see quite easily.

The planet was small, thank god, and nearly solid black. It was dark around them, but not excessively so. Only the type of dark that a solar eclipse might bring. The scanners all read that the air there was breathable, and that there was no life on the planet. Not that Kaiden had believed there would be - the darkness of the planet itself looked like cooled-down magma.

Bringing Purple down to the surface was simple enough, and she hit with a solid _thud_ of metal on rock. Kai felt his teeth clack together when they landed, and if Arin did as well, she said nothing. Instead, the girl simply grabbed her bayard and hurried to exit the Lion, eager to meet her own.

"You should take your bayard, too!" she called over her shoulder, and Kaiden couldn't help but agree. He snagged his own - the cursed bow and arrow that it was - and followed her out.

As soon as the two of them touched the surface of the planet, Arin squealed with delight (a rare sound that Kai wasn't sure he'd ever heard from her before.) The black surface was reminiscent of ash, but when their boots hit it, it lit up with some sort of bioluminescent reaction to the pressure. Pale light shone from under their feet and floated up where they made dust, and it was obvious that Arin was completely captivated by it.

So was Kaiden, but in a different way. He wished more than anything he could have some sort of tubes or cups so that he could bring some of it back with him. Specifically so that he would be able to run it through tests and scans and figure out just what all of it was made of.

He was interrupted from his musings by his teammate bumping his shoulder with her own. "If we run into any aliens that want to kill us, I'm gonna leave you," she chirped, folding her hands behind her back. "Just telling you as a warning."

"What? Why would you do that?" Kaiden demanded, unable to stop the trill of fear that rose in his chest at the thought of being left alone to fend for himself. He was much smarter than he was powerful, and he knew that if there were any Alteans around, he'd be doomed on his own. Scrappy Arin had always been much better at combat, and he would hazard a guess that she still was.

"To pay you back for calling me Amy," the younger girl told him, dropping a cheeky wink before flouncing away and kicking up puffs of bright dust. The King boy followed her with a huff, more irritated than anything else. Though she'd never been too petty before, Kai couldn't help but wonder if something had fundamentally changed.

It hadn't.

Because, as they encroached in on the location of the Orange Lion, a great rumbling caused them to stop in their tracks. The two hardly had time to glance at one another before the ground opened under their feet and dropped them into the darkness below.

To their credit, neither one yelped or cried out when they hit the metal beneath them, and they recovered relatively quickly (for the situation, anyway.) Kaiden sat up first, rubbing his head underneath the helmet, and Arin rose right after him. He opened his mouth to ask if she was alright, but shut it immediately after when he looked over her shoulder at the creature looming over them.

It was purple in color, with large, catlike ears and slitted yellow eyes. And, holy shit, it was _massive._ To hazard a guess, Kaiden would've said it was somewhere between seven and eight feet tall, and humanoid, but very, very alien.

For all of her claims of abandoning him, Arin snagged her bayard instantaneously, rising to her feet but keeping her weight off of her left leg. The older teen had guessed, by that point, that there was something wrong with it, but he didn't have the time to think too hard about it at the moment. The Galinsky leveled the double-bladed staff at the monster and planted herself firmly between it and Kaiden, who was reaching for his own bayard.

"Back _off_!" she snapped, holding her ground as the creature approached (even if it was over two feet taller than herself.) "Who the hell are you?"

The monster snorted in amusement, and it was only then that Kaiden noticed there were _more_ approaching behind him. "You intrude on our base, and demand to know who _we_ are?" he questioned incredulously, brandishing his own weapon to angle it at the girl. It was much more intimidating - a gun, not unlike the ones the Alteans used. "What a brave little insect you are."

Arin's nostrils flared out a bit, and even if she wouldn't admit to it, her hands trembled as she held her staff. "My name is Arin Galinsky - I am a paladin of Voltron," she asserted, green eyes flicking from the gun to the alien holding it.

"You cannot be a paladin of Voltron," said the creature, a chuckle in its words. The girl looked affronted, tightening her grip on her weapon.

"And why is that?"

The alien arched one brow. "Because we have one of the Lions here, in the base," it stated flippantly, and Kaiden couldn't help but think that it wouldn't have told them that if it planned on letting them walk out of there alive. "Voltron cannot exist without all of the six Lions."

The small girl rolled her eyes and glared at the creature. "Why the hell else would we be here?! My friend and I were coming to pick up the Orange Lion so that we _could_ form Voltron!" Her voice was something akin to a growl at this point, and Kaiden could only guess how badly she wanted to fight them. And, wait... had she just called him a _friend_? Before he could correct her on it, though, she continued. "Luxin told us to come here and get it!"

One of the creatures behind the first stepped forward at the mention of the Altean's name, and its eyes rounded hopefully. " _Luxin_ sent you?" it asked, clearly in a state of disbelief. Arin nodded, and the alien placed a hand to its chest. The others behind him all gasped as well, murmuring excitedly between themselves. Apparently, they had all known the Altean? "Open the hangar of the Orange Lion," the second one commanded the others of its kind, and as they went to obey, it turned its attention back to the humans. It wore an expression of hope and pain at the same time. "Could you take me to Luxin?"

Arin glanced at Kaiden, who could do nothing but shrug his shoulders at the unexpected change of events. She looked between the two of them, and apparently had sympathy on the alien creature. "I don't see why not!" the girl responded with a smile, deactivating her bayard to place back in her belt. "Thanks for that, by the way. I was afraid that they were going to shoot us!" She chuckled awkwardly and scratched the back of her head, then extended her hand for the beast to shake. "What's your name? Uh, and, if you don't mind me asking, what _are_ you guys?"

The purple humanoid smiled slightly and took her hand in its own. "My name is Kol'syk Adar, and my race is known as the Galra," he explained gently, offering Kaiden a welcoming smile as well. "I must apologize for our earlier behavior. We are not quite used to visitors." Which was probably an understatement, but whatever.

"It doesn't matter," Kaiden cut in, striding forward to shake Kol'syks's hand as well. "Can we go get the Orange Lion yet?"

His companion elbowed him in the side, shooting him a short glare. "Rude," she scolded, then looked up at the Galra with a bright grin. "We don't mean to rush, but we are kind of on a time crunch. Saving the universe, and all that good stuff." Her tone was lilting happily, clearly excited about meeting her Lion.

Kol'syk must have noticed, too, because he let out a soft laugh and nodded his head. "Of course - right this way."

* * *

 **{[** Voltron **]}**

* * *

 **An -** _It's been so very long since I've written a chapter longer than 6k words! I'm so tired now, but I hope it was worth it. I wanted to knock out all the Lion-finding in one chapter, and introduce another character at the same time, and have a cool cliff-jumping scene. Oh, and to have Blake become the goddess of a planet._

 _A lot happened this time around, didn't it? xD_

 _Anyway..._

 **Kol'syk Adar was created by halle-effing-lujah**

 _... and I am so excited to write about him and Luxin *^.^*_

 _The team is gonna be reunited next chapter, so look forward to that!_

 _Please review - it really makes my day, and helps to know what you guys are thinking. I've highly appreciated all the feedback I've gotten so far!_

 _Love,_

 _anim8or_


	6. Background Chapter I

**Luxin's POV**

The teens brought back their Lions quickly, especially considering the fact that Lux had expected them (in his usual, cynical way) to fail miserably at this task. The last two to get back were Arin and Kaiden, the former of which showboating her Lion as they descended into the hangar. He didn't scold her for it, though - they'd all had a fairly long couple of days, so perhaps she deserved a bit of slack.

What Luxin had expected the least out of the whole situation was the familiar face that rode with Arin in the Orange Lion. The aura that he gave off was faint from this distance, and Luxin wouldn't have even felt it had he not been so deeply connected with its bearer.

 _Kol'syk._

* * *

 **{[** Voltron **]}**

* * *

 **Kol'syk's POV  
**

 _Years ago..._

"Thank you all very much for doing this for us," the Altean named Alfor said to Kol'syk's commander as he led them down the halls of the base they had constructed with the Olkari people. Kol'syk didn't particularly understand what they were doing here, exactly, but the generalized gist of it was that it was going to help out the universe in the end by taking out the Altean empire. The young Galra couldn't help but think of it as strange and admirable that these two single Alteans were willing to go against their own people for the sake of everyone else from all races.

The commander nodded his large head and offered Alfor a gentle smile. "The Blade of Marmora can spare two soldiers for such a worthy cause," he responded, nodding to the two soldiers in question. The older - Phiram - was to watch over Alfor, and the younger - Kol'syk - was supposed to watch over the one called Luxin.

They had yet to meet, but that was about to change.

As soon as they stepped into the main laboratory, the younger Altean came up to meet them. He looked much like Alfor, especially in coloring - dark skin and white hair, with brilliant blue eyes. However, he seemed slightly less put-together than the other - messier hair, larger eyes, glasses askew on his face. Behind them, his eyes widened at the sight of the older Altean.

"Alfor, I believe I've found a way to combine the quintessence with pieces of specific metals and technology, though I'm not quite positive how that would work just yet. I wanted your opinion before-" He cut off, apparently just now noticing the three Galra behind his kin. "Ah, hello there! I apologize for being rude, but what, exactly, is going on here?"

The commander smiled slightly at the younger Altean's enthusiasm. "The Blade and Alfor have decided that it would be in everyone's best interests to continue working together. Two of my best soldiers have been selected to be your personal bodyguards."

Luxin blinked a couple of times, his pointed ears twitching as he tried to take in that information. "Did we not even think of asking my opinion on the matter?" he suddenly demanded, puffing out his chest and placing his hands on his hips. "Alfor, you understand better than anyone that I do not need a bodyguard."

Alfor simply shrugged at the younger man, blue eyes soft as he regarded him. "Luxin, I understand that you are capable, but this is important. I know that you do not like to depend on others for assistance, but sometimes, it is necessary." The younger Altean narrowed his eyes further and glanced to the side. "How would I be able to do all of this on my own if you were to die?"

That seemed to get the younger's attention, because he rolled his eyes in one last display of slight rebellion before accepting his fate. "Alright," he muttered, straightening his posture and looking at the Galra. "I apologize for my behavior," he said calmly, dipping his head.

"He has issues with trusting others," Alfor interjected, and Luxin shot him a furious glare.

The commander chuckled - a deep, rumbling sound - and shrugged one shoulder in return. "I believe we all do, in one way or another. Your behavior is forgiven." He looked over at his two soldiers. "I have brought to you Phiram, who is to watch over Alfor, and Kol'syk, who is to be beside Luxin." They both stepped forward when their names were mentioned, and approached their charges.

Kol'syk had to crane his neck down to look at Luxin, who was even shorter than Alfor himself. The young Altean was studying him carefully behind his glasses, in a head-to-toe manner that made Kol'syk slightly uncomfortable.

"My name is Kol'syk Adar," he introduced, dipping his head down in respect.

Luxin snorted softly and reached out a hand for him to shake. "Please. It is not like you are beneath me; there is no need for formalities," he asserted, and Kol'syk shook his hand awkwardly. "My name is Luxin, though normally I am called Lux."

Hesitantly, Kol'syk allowed himself to believe that this man might not be so bad.

...Unfortunately, he was wrong.

* * *

Over the next several months, Kol'syk had come to find that Luxin was a manic, anxious mess half the time, and that led to temper fits and lengthy periods of silence. Usually, his anger was directed at the nearest person, which, in turn, was usually Kol'syk. The young Galra had to believe that much of it was likely due to lack of sleep and the unbearable pressure that he was under as he and Alfor worked day and night to build these giant, mechanical... cats in the base.

In the end, they built one fully-functional robot out of a specific mixture of rare metals. The lion husk was white in color, and Lux was quite proud of it. Alfor was, too, but the older Altean was much more stoic about it. Through much trial and effort, they finally managed to get the quintessence to flow into the metallic body, but they still could not get the creature to awaken for them. Still, though, they clapped one another's hands in a sort of high five, sweating and exhausted.

It was all quite confusing for the two Galran soldiers who stood guard on the other side of the room.

Later that night, when Kol'syk was sleeping in his cot in the room directly across from Luxin's own, he was surprisingly awoken by the younger Altean. Dark hands brushed across purple shoulders as Luxin shook him, and Kol'syk was instantly on high alert. He reached over to grab his blade and get to his feet, looking around wildly for any sort of danger. "What is it?" he demanded, still half-asleep. "What's wrong?!"

The young Altean tilted his head to the side with a light chuckle, then got to his feet. "Relax - I was just waking you up so that you could come to the lab and see what I've been working on," he placated, his voice hushed, and Kol'syk - thoroughly confused - reluctantly sheathed his blade.

"You have been in the lab tonight?" he asked, brows furrowing as he took in Lux's state of dress. He even had shoes on his feet.

Again, the Altean smiled, ears twitching. "Well, of course. It is the only time I can work without you breathing down my neck," he brushed off the concern with a wave of his hand, and then headed over to the doors. "Come along, now. I believe that you might find this immensely exciting."

Tired but committed to his job, Kol'syk begrudgingly followed. It was times like this that he really wished he had never agreed to bodyguard one of the Alteans.

Luxin's pace was brisk as he headed down the halls toward the main lab, and he managed to beat the Galra there. For as soon as Kol'syk entered the room, he had to raise his hands to catch a projectile that had been thrown at his chest. Immediately, his first thought was that he was under attack, but Luxin was standing and smiling at him. The young Galra looked down at the object in his palms - it was mostly just white metal, and kind of shaped in a circular fashion. Curious, he looked up at Luxin for answers.

"I am calling it a bayard," the Altean was quick to explain, brandishing one of his own in his right hand. "Hold it like I am, and watch." Luxin raised his hand and the 'bayard' morphed into a small, butterfly knife before Kol'syk's very eyes.

Dumbfounded, Kol'syk obeyed, and his own extended into a much larger, heavier blade than Luxin's. It curved at the end, and was bright silver in color.

"I took inspiration from the Olkari," the young Altean enthused, clearly extremely proud of himself. "Oh, and even a little bit from when the Galra blades are awoken. The bayards conform to the thought processes and physiques of whomever is using them. They react with brain waves and muscle tone and height and weight to create a weapon completely befitting for that particular user."

Kol'syk was silent for several moments before he realized that the other young man was waiting for him to say something. "This is... interesting," he tried, still a bit taken aback by the weapon in his hands. He hadn't imagined technology could be so advanced.

One white brow raised, and Luxin placed a hand on his hip incredulously. "Interesting? Really? Is that all you have to say about it?"

"Were you expecting more?" the Galra asked uncomfortably - he'd never been the best with expression.

Luxin gave a longsuffering sigh, running one hang through his chaotically-messy ivory hair. "I suppose not," he acquiesced, then seemed to brighten up a bit as he extended one hand toward his bodyguard. "Would you like to join me for a short training session?"

* * *

Kol'syk had won that night, which was no surprise, but Luxin had held his own and been an astonishingly formidable opponent.

Their relationship had improved drastically after that, and Lux had become increasingly easier to be around. It wasn't so much that he was less anxious or stressed, or even less temperamental, but it was that he was sneaking in ways to show kindness as well. For example, actually making an attempt to get to know his bodyguard, and then remembering the details about what he was told.

The young Galra was particularly shocked one morning when he woke and found a bowl of Balmeran leeches by his cot. Luxin had been sitting on the floor by the wall, one leg crossed over the other as he wrote things on a holographic clipboard.

"You said those were your favorites, right?" the Altean had asked as he wrote, only pausing for a brief moment to meet Kol'syk's gaze.

He had taken the bowl of leeches and skewered one with a fork to begin eating his breakfast. "I did," he told him, still hindered by sleep and the unusual show of kindness. But the question was just begging to be asked - "Where did you get them?"

Lux had smirked and shrugged his shoulders, then put the holographic clipboard down for a minute. "There was a Balmera only a jump or two away, and I snuck out before you woke up so that I could get some for you," he explained, uncrossing his legs and leaning forward, intrigued. "Why do you like those things, anyway? Isn't it strange to eat insects?"

"Why would you do that for me?" Kol'syk questioned, fully ignoring the fact that he'd also been asked something and instead ingesting another leech.

"I needed some of the crystals anyway, to power some smaller electronics I have lying around." The statement was short and clipped, and then he pointed at the bowl in Kol'syk's hands. "How can you eat that? Does it taste good?"

Kol'syk swallowed and extended the fork out, a leech on the end of it. "Do you want to try it?" he asked, and swore Luxin turned a bit green underneath his dark complexion.

"Not in the slightest."

After that, Kol'syk had gone to Alfor to ask what was going on with the younger Altean, and the older just laughed in response. "Well, it appears that Luxin might fancy you as a friend," he responded breezily, his cheeks dimpling as he smiled. "You must be a special one indeed for him to go to such lengths to do something for you."

 _A friend?_

Kol'syk had not planned on making friends on this mission. Or on any mission, come to think of it. He had been so wrapped up in his training and his end goal to take down the evil Altean empire that he hadn't even considered having a friend even a remote possibility.

He would hazard a guess that Luxin hadn't, either.

So, he set off to find the young Altean, fully intent on questioning him of his intentions, and located him in his room. And clearly, Lux had just gotten out of the showers. His chin-length white hair was plastered to his skull and his dark skin was sleek and wet. Kol'syk felt slightly awkward about the Altean's state of undress, but Luxin just offered him a smile and stepped into a pair of loose pants and dried his hair with a nearby towel.

"Did you need something?" he asked as he sat down on the bed, tilting his head to the side and patting the bed for Kol'syk to sit down with him if he wanted.

"Are we friends?" the question was asked quickly and bluntly, striding over to plunk all nine-foot-six of himself down beside the tiny (by comparison) Lux.

Regardless of the suddenness of the question, the white-haired man snorted and reached a hand up to pat Kol'syk's shoulder affectionately. "Well, obviously. I really didn't think I could be more clear about it," he teased lightly, a lopsided smirk on his lips. "Did I have to tell you directly or something?"

"Yes."

A gentle laugh pulled itself from Luxin's mouth and his blue eyes twinkled as he obliged. "We're friends, Kol."

* * *

Or, perhaps, even more than friends. The two of them became almost inseparable after that day - it was rare to find one anywhere without the other. It had become clear to anyone in passing that the two were taken with one another. But it was shown in different ways - Luxin was intent on remembering every detail of what Kol'syk told him, and giving him gifts and dragging him around to every part of the lab to show him was going on. Kol'syk, however, had become a constant presence beside the Altean, even though Luxin had become particularly good at causing the Galra extreme emotional discomfort. Sometimes, it was difficult for him to form a complete sentence in the presence of the smaller man - especially if they were touching.

They went on like two infatuated little school children for months - years, perhaps, although time moved differently for Alteans than it did for Galra, so they couldn't tell, - but neither minded it.

The only change came while Luxin and Alfor were working on one of the three mechanical Lions they'd built. Phiram and Kol'syk stood at the back of the room, awaiting their charges to return, when the unthinkable happened. Something went wrong in the engine of the Lion, and there was absolutely no warning before a deafening explosion went off somewhere inside its core. Phiram and Kol'syk had not hesitated before racing into the flaming metal, and Kol'syk had never felt quite so terrified in his life. Not for himself, he found, but for the Altean in question.

And even though Alfor and Luxin both got out on their own, the Galra couldn't help himself from snatching up the younger into his arms for a desperate hug. Luxin, bleeding from a cut on his forehead and covered in soot, but otherwise fine, had hugged him back. Neither one was sure which of them initiated the kiss that followed, but Phiram and Alfor bore witness as the younger two pressed their lips together.

When they broke apart, Alfor coughed uncomfortably into his fist, and both of the younger men blushed furiously (though Kol'syk had the benefit of his pale purple fur to cover it up for him.) "Well. I can't say that I didn't expect it," he started, smiling just a bit. "Congratulations, you two."

Kol'syk had never been more embarrassed, but he had also never been happier.

* * *

Things grew to be more intimate between them after that. Luxin almost never slept in his own room anymore, opting to wedge himself into his lover's bed instead. And of course, Kol'syk did not mind one bit. It enabled him to protect the Altean easier, make sure he got more sleep, and (most importantly, perhaps) he got to simply _hold_ the smaller being in his arms.

Some nights they would stay up and talk for hours, and other nights, they just wouldn't speak at all. There was discussion of, when the war was over, settling down somewhere very far away, in the middle of the countryside, where they could just live out the rest of their days in peace. But nothing had fundamentally changed in their lives, apart from their relationship with one another. Kol'syk was still loyal to the Blade, and Luxin was still tirelessly attempting to build the Lions and find ways to take down the Altean empire. It was only ever at night that they truly got to spend time with one another.

Things were as near to perfection as they could be, under the circumstances...

...but nothing good can last forever.

* * *

 **An -** _Shorter chapter this time, but I was anxious to get into Kol'syk and Luxin's relationship. The next chapter will probably still be mainly from Kol's POV, and will deal with **graphic descriptions of bodily functions** (vomit, urine, sweat, bleeding, illness, etc.) so please be warned. It won't be for the weak of heart or stomach, but it is a part of the story, so I will share it with you guys. :3_

 _Thank you all for your support! You've been so awesome!_

 _Question of the Day: Who is your favorite character (so far) in this story?_

 _Love,_

 _anim8or_


	7. Background Chapter 2

Everything between Kol'syk and Luxin was perfect and blissful... until it wasn't.

The young Galra didn't know how he hadn't seen the signs sooner. Looking back on it now, Kol could pick up on every single warning signal - every single red flag that Lux's body was showing for him. It had begun, truly, with tiredness. Kol'syk had overlooked it at the time because he knew that Luxin had been running on very little sleep for the entire span of time that they had known one another - and most likely much longer than that, knowing the young Altean.

"Do you ever think about having children?" Kol'syk had asked one night as the two of them lay on the roof of the base, staring up at the endless galaxies that extended out before them. Honestly, Kol'syk hadn't even thought of it until the couple's more recent talks of settling down after the war.

Luxin had merely chuckled and pressed his side against the Galra, his toned arms folded behind his head. "I am not changing my gender for you, Kol," he purred in response, pale blue eyes flicking to meet the yellows of his lover. "I believe that I would make a particularly hideous woman."

If he hadn't had fur, the Altean would have known that Kol'syk was blushing. He probably did, anyway. "I wasn't talking about that - more like taking in an orphaned child, or..." he trailed off as another thought popped into his head. "Wait... you can change your gender?" It was not something that Kol'syk had thought was in the realms of possibility.

"We Alteans can change almost everything about our bodies. We're chameleon-like people," Lux explained patiently, raising a hand and turning it purple to match the Galra's fur. "Never been much of a fan of it, though."

Fair enough.

They fell silent after that, both content just listening to the other's breathing. Until, of course, Kol'syk thought of something else to ask. Turning his head back to his partner, he began - "Hey, Lux-" before quickly cutting himself off. The Altean pressed against his side was deep in slumber, chest rising and falling slowly, and lips slightly opened as he breathed.

He would berate himself in the future for not catching the problem at its source and bring Luxin to the infirmary then and there. Luxin had never, in all their time of knowing one another, fallen asleep before him. But, at the time, Kol'syk had only thought of it as a beautiful sight, and had lifted the smaller body in his arms to

carry him to the bed they shared in Kol's own room. Luxin's bed didn't quite accomodate nine-foot-six and four-hundred-and-ten pounds of Kol's massive form.

It fit the five-foot-eleven and one-hundred-fifty-five pounds of Luxin perfectly, but he never used it anymore.

* * *

Kol'syk had begun to worry not long after that incident. The young Galra had slept in one morning - because Luxin, the bastard, had let him - and had awoken to an empty bed. He hadn't fretted at that point, because Lux tried to get Kol to sleep a healthy amount regardless of what he did to his own body, and instead had went through his morning routine before heading to the lab. There was absolutely no doubt in his mind that his beloved would be there.

He was proven correct, as when he walked in and called Luxin's name, the Altean's voice reverberated back and informed Kol that he was in the Gray Lion's hangar. At that point, in addition to the Gray Lion, they had constructed the Orange and White Lions. Kol often wondered why it was so important to distinguish them, but both Alfor and Luxin insisted that they each had their own personalities.

They were probably going crazy, but Kol wasn't going to judge.

Instead, he headed into the Gray hangar and was pleased to find that the Lion was bent down with its mouth open so that he could freely access it. Much of the time, only Alfor and Luxin were allowed in them - because they were the ones who made them in the first place. Kol'syk bent down just a bit so that he could walk in through the doorway to get to the control room. He found Luxin there, on his back beneath the control panel, wrench in hand. The Altean was dripping with sweat, oil slicked across his skin, and in a tight, purple shirt that showed his strong stomach through the fabric. Now, Kol was not preferential to any sort of physical appearance, but now that he and Luxin were together (and had been for quite some time) he felt as though he could be free to ogle his mate all he wanted.

Luxin was never shy about his body, so why should Kol'syk be?

The Altean craned his neck and offered his partner a bright smile, his glasses askew on his face. "Good morning, _meivah_ ," he greeted, using the Altean word for 'love,' which caused an unusually warm feeling in Kol'syk's chest. "Did you sleep well?"

"Better than you, apparently," Kol responded, walking over to sit in the floor beside his companion and watching as the smaller being slid back underneath the control panel to reach something in the back. "How long have you been up?"

Lux made a soft sound, apparently giving his answer some thought. "Mm, only a varga or two. Not particularly long," he finally said, continuing his tinkering.

Kol'syk watched, not even bothering to hide his smile. He couldn't see Luxin's face from where he sat, but occasionally one of those long Altean legs would stretch out to tap against his own folded knees. "Have you eaten yet?" he pressed, nudging one of Lux's booted feet with his own.

"No, I was waiting for you t-" The young Altean's words were abruptly cut off by a harsh, wet gasp. His knees bent and the wrench clattered to the ground, forgotten, as he let out a series of chilling, hacking coughs that caused Kol'syk's heart to stop for half a tick. The Galra sprang forward and wrapped his hands around his partner's quivering abdomen to pull him out from beneath the control panel.

The sight was just as bad as the sound.

As soon as Kol'syk had pulled Luxin into a sitting position, blood burst forth from his nose, and he continued to choke on it. Putting the pieces together quickly, Kol could gather that his lover had just had a nosebleed while laying on his back and accidentally breathed it in. It didn't make it any less terrifying, but at least now he knew what he was dealing with.

Thinking fast, the Galra slammed a large hand down on Luxin's back, between his sharp shoulderblades several times before Luxin finally - _finally_ \- coughed up a portion of the crimson liquid in his lungs and sucked in a substantial breath. And then another, and another, and Kol'syk sagged in relief. Lux, still trembling softly and covering his nose and mouth with his palms, allowed his beloved to pull him so that his back was held tightly against Kol's front. His mate reached around his body to rub his now-heaving chest with a massive, comforting hand, and Luxin did not move when Kol pressed gentle kisses up and down the back of his head. Then he just rested there, his breath warm and shaky on the Altean's neck.

Lux pushed himself more closely against Kol'syk in an attempt to comfort him. "Everything is alright, _meivah,_ please don't worry," he soothed, voice hoarse and slightly gravelly from his coughing fit. "Nosebleeds happen - it's nothing. I'm here - I'm here."

Fortunately, Kol'syk was able to calm down enough to turn Luxin around and see his front. Blood was still oozing from both of his nostrils, and his purple shirt was streaked with scarlet. There was even some in his white hair, clumping it together in jagged spikes where it had touched. Not to mention his hands, which were absolutely coated with the crimson liquid.

"Right." Luxin was the first to get his wits about him, and stood up (with slight assistance from Kol'syk, though he wouldn't admit to needing it.) "I believe that a shower is in the cards for me."

Kol was quick to stand after him, unashamedly hovering. "Do you want me to.. do you need me to...?" he tried, and Luxin tossed his head back in a stuffy laugh.

"I am perfectly capable of changing my clothes and taking a shower by myself," he assured, and Kol'syk couldn't help but smile just a bit. Of course Lux's pride wouldn't allow him to just allow himself to be coddled like that, even if Kol was more than willing to do anything for him.

So the Galra stayed quiet and watched as his partner left the Lion, pinching his nose to slow the bleeding. He continued to watch as Luxin exited the hangar, and only then did he go off in search of cleaning supplies.

If Luxin didn't want help with personal hygiene, then he would help clean Gray instead. He knew that the Altean would hate it if he knew he'd left a puddle of blood inside of one of his precious Lions, and so Kol'syk decided that he would never even have to know at all.

That was the second sign, and the first that Kol actually noticed.

* * *

It was over the period of the next two weeks that another issue presented itself. Kol'syk hadn't noticed it at first, but the longer that it went on, it became evident that something was very wrong. Lux had been eating less as time passed, occasionally going to great lengths to avoid even entering the dining room at all. Even Alfor, who usually had some sort of unspoken rule to leave the two alone most of the time (likely for privacy purposes) had gotten worried for the younger Altean. So much so that he pulled Kol'syk aside one morning - a rare one in which he was up before his partner - and discussed the issue with him.

"We are set to have an important meeting with the Unilu people later today," the older man explained softly as they stood in the hall outside the room Kol and Lux shared. "It wouldn't do to convince them to ally with us if one of the only two scientists working on the Lions is pale and sickly from lack of food. Would you please get him to eat breakfast? I believe he would be more likely to listen to you."

So, Kol'syk had agreed, and decided to fix his lover a nice, hot breakfast of duflax eggs and skultaberries while he got out of bed and prepared himself for the day.

Luxin walked in with his hair dampened from a shower and wearing a pair of his best robes, as Alfor had been wearing. It was obvious that the two of them wanted to impress the Unilu, although Kol couldn't fathom why. All he'd ever known of the Unilu were that they were a scourge on anything they got close enough to, but Lux said that they were a viable resource when it came to getting rare materials.

The young Altean smiled slightly at the sight of his partner setting up two plates for them to eat breakfast together, but he stopped a few feet away from the table itself. "What's the occasion?" he asked, pale blue eyes seeking out Kol'syk's yellow.

"No occasion," the Galra assured, patting the seat for the smaller being to sit in. Lux took a deep breath through his nose, but reluctantly headed over to sit in the chair. Kol'syk pushed it up to the table for him, and headed over to sit at his own seat across from the Altean. "I just thought that I would do something nice for you this morning. You like skultaberries, right?" He believed that Luxin had mentioned them before.

His partner hummed in the back of his throat and glanced at his fork. It looked as though he wanted to at least try and eat. "Mhm - skultaberries are my favorite," he confirmed, and with a bit of nonverbal communication from Kol, reluctantly took the fork in his right hand. "Thank you, Kol. This looks delicious."

The Galra took a spoonful of the duflax eggs and had them halfway to his mouth before he realized that Lux hadn't yet touched his fork to the food. "Aren't you going to eat?" he prompted hopefully.

"Of course," the scientist informed him, and scooped up a forkful of the cooked berries. Kol thought that he could see the Altean's hands shaking, but decided against mentioning it. Luxin brought the food to his mouth and chewed it slowly and methodically before swallowing and offering his partner a slight smile. "It's fantastic," he enthused unenthusiastically, but he was definitely at least _trying_.

Kol'syk leaned forward and took another bite of his own breakfast. "Aren't you going to eat more?" he urged, and Luxin's brows knitted together.

"Kol, I'm not particularly hungry..."

"But you need to eat - it's not good for you to skip so many meals, and I'm getting concerned for your health..."

Apparently, the realization that he was worrying his mate was enough for Lux to take another bite.

They sat like that for around thirty minutes, bite by slow bite, until Kol'syk had gotten Luxin to eat the whole plate of eggs and berries. And they both finished just in time to hear the Unilu ships landing outside.

Everything was fine as they walked to the meeting room to speak with the other beings. Phiram and Kol'syk were sitting beside Alfor and Luxin, respectively, as the three Unilu present sat further up at the head of the metal table. The room itself was small, white-walled, and bare - designed specifically for meetings such as this.

The discussion was... less than pleasant.

"If you already have four of these Lions, then why would you need more?" demanded the head Unilu, his face brought into an ugly sneer as he leaned across the table toward Alfor.

The older Altean in question was the picture of calm and poised. "Because our design schematic calls for six Lions, and we cannot take down the Altean empire without them all," he explained, sitting up straight and meeting the Unilu's gaze firmly. "I know that you understand how important it is to stop them."

His statement was met with an indignant huff from the Unilu, who crossed his arms over his chest. "Apparently, it is not important enough for your assistant to stay awake through the meeting."

Alfor looked over toward Luxin at that, and Kol'syk couldn't help but check for himself. The younger Altean was slightly hunched in his chair, his own arms crossed tightly and his eyes squeezed shut. "M'not asleep," he grunted, prying open his eyes to look at Alfor. "I need to be excused." Something in his tone sent off warning bells through Kol'syk's mind, and Alfor's brows furrowed just a bit. Clearly, he echoed the young Galra's sentiment.

"If you leave this room, we will not partner with you in the war effort," the boldest of the three Unilu said, a small smirk on his lips. "Surely, if what you are doing here is _that_ important, you will be able to put up with a bit of personal discomfort to assure your victory."

Kol'syk flinched inwardly - he did not want his partner to be uncomfortable, no matter what was wrong... but the Unilu was right, and after a bit of internal debate, it was clear that Luxin thought the same.

"I apologize for my behavior. Proceed with the meeting," he muttered tightly, this time making sure to keep his eyes open as the others spoke.

This time, Kol'syk kept a closer eye on the young Altean, one hand resting on his knee underneath the table in a show of what comfort he could offer. Lux's leg was bouncing anxiously, and Kol frowned. It wasn't like him to show a nervous tick so openly like that. Absently, the Galra rubbed his lover's thigh, desperate to calm him down and soothe whatever was wrong.

It was in the middle of a discussion between the Unilu and Alfor - about some type of rare metal that they had run out of at the base - that Luxin's leg stilled and every muscle in his body coiled so tightly Kol was afraid they might break. He tried to massage out the tenseness where he could reach, and where the Unilu could not see, but it seemed to be doing nothing good for the Altean whatsoever.

They were drawing very little attention until Luxin let out a soft moan of discomfort, which the nearest Unilu - a younger male - clearly mistook as a sound of pleasure. "Are you Alteans and Galra so disrespectful that you grope one another under the table in the middle of war meetings?" he demanded, a sneer on his face as he regarded Luxin and Kol'syk with disgust. Alfor and Phiram looked over, wide-eyed with alarm and worry, because they had known the two for long enough to realize that that was not the case, and the other Unilu howled with laughter.

Meanwhile, Luxin's face had paled drastically, and he squeezed his eyes shut. Suddenly, he rose one hand up to clasp over his mouth, and the other to press against his stomach, and it became instantly obvious what had him so uncomfortable.

A sharp gag shook the young Altean's shoulders, and the room went silent with surprise, alarm, and - from the ones who resided at the base - worry.

Phiram got to his feet, presumably to find some kind of receptacle for Luxin to use, but it was too little too late. Another harsh gag shook the Altean's body, and vomit spewed out from between his fingers to splatter on his legs and the floor between his feet. Kol'syk got out of his chair and hurried to crouch between his partner and the Unilu to shield him from their stares. He placed one huge, purple hand on the Altean's back, between his tensed shoulderblades, and the other moved to cover Lux's own hand that was pressed against his rebelling stomach.

As more emesis spilled from his mate's lips, Kol'syk could hear Alfor speaking to the Unilu and ushering them out the way that they had come in (he knew that the older Altean would probably not want their help after the show they had just put on.) He said nothing to Kol, instead allowing him to tend to Luxin on his own as the poor young man got sick all over the floor.

Kol'syk felt Lux press against him a few times, likely for comfort, and he buried his face into the Altean's tightly-wound neck. He wanted to hug him, but Luxin was still vomiting up everything he'd eaten for breakfast and then some, until there was nothing but bile. Strings of saliva and mucus dripped from the Altean's lips whilst he dry-heaved, having nothing left in his stomach to throw up.

Eventually, the ordeal was over, and Luxin, though shaky and exhausted, got to his feet and staggered past Kol'syk, his face pale and green-tinted and flaming with a humiliated blush all at the same time. Sweat slicked his hair to his forehead, and his pants were plastered with sick. Kol said nothing as his partner stumbled out of the room, as quickly as he possibly could, in the direction of their shared room. He completely bypassed speaking with Phiram or Alfor, understandably far too embarrassed to face them at the moment, and Kol'syk let him have a few ticks of a head-start before he rose up and followed.

"I will clean the floor," Phiram told the younger Galra as he passed, and Kol offered him a grateful smile. He'd thank him later, but for now, he needed to catch up with Luxin.

He reached the hallway just in time to see the door to Luxin's room swish shut, rather than the room that they shared. Concerned, Kol'syk hurried to knock on the door, resting his palms against the metal surface. "Lux, _meivah_ , darling, are you alright?" he asked, noting with slight panic that he couldn't get the door to open.

"Go away," the Altean spat from the other side of the door, his voice trembling and thick, as though he were crying. Kol'syk had never seen his mate cry before, and that only further fueled his worry.

"Luxin-"

" _Quiznak,_ Kol'syk, _leave me al-one_!" he shouted back, the last word of his sentence breaking off halfway through with a sob.

The Galra pulled away from the door that divided them, anxious and ill with worry, but respected his partner's wishes enough to step back and head into their shared room.

He stayed there for the rest of the day, and Luxin did not leave the other room, either. But the Galra left the bedroom door unlocked, and could have cried with relief when it swished open in the middle of the night. Lux crept in, bundled in thick sweats, and slid into bed beside Kol'syk. The Altean nuzzled his cheek into the soft fur between Kol's neck and shoulder, and the larger man wrapped his arms protectively around his lover.

"I'm so sorry for... for..." Lux began in a whisper, but buried his face into the crook of Kol'syk's neck instead, clinging ever tighter. "I love you - you know that... don't you? I was just... I was so _embarrassed_ and _ashamed_... I messed everything up earlier, and I hurt you..."

Kol pressed a kiss to the smaller man's temple and hugged him closer. "I know... I know. I love you, too," he soothed, pulling back so that he could see Lux's face. "You didn't mess anything up - you did so well." The Galra ran his knuckles down his partner's spine, and Luxin melted under his touch. "You have nothing to be embarrassed over."

Lux rested his head on the pillow beside Kol'syk's, meeting his gaze for the first time since the incident earlier. There was no doubt that Luxin would be embarrassed - he was so independent, and so in-control, that something as trivial as getting sick in front of someone probably seemed like it was a huge deal.

The larger being sighed softly and lowered himself to touch his lips to those of his beloved, and Luxin reciprocated by parting his own and closing his eyes.

If he could not reassure his partner with words, perhaps it could be accomplished through action.

* * *

A bit of good came from that disaster, though. The Unilu felt bad about their actions, and went through with the deal. All three apologized directly to Luxin, who still seemed particularly humiliated over the ordeal. But they had what they needed for the other Lions, and Alfor and Luxin were both happy to be able to get back to work. It was nice to see Lux back to his strange, technology-obsessed self, and their relationship returned to normal. If anything, the Altean was more affectionate when they were alone, and made a point to spend more time with Kol.

One of those little things that he had started doing was making use of the large bathtubs that the base had to offer. About once a week, Luxin would tug Kol'syk along with him to the baths, and they would soak together. By this point, Kol'syk was aware of the fact that there was something wrong with his mate. Alfor knew, too, though Kol'syk didn't understand the saddened glances the older Altean would send to the younger when he wasn't looking. It couldn't be something _that_ wrong, could it? It was just a flu or something, right?

A flu that lasted months and months...

That night, when they undressed for their bath together, Kol took a moment to look at Luxin. Like actually, genuinely look at him. His skin appeared paler than usual, and he had lost weight from not eating enough - he couldn't seem to shake the nausea away, no matter what they did. Kol'syk was lucky to get him to eat every other day now.

But it wasn't just that - no, this time, Kol saw the bruises as well. There were dapples along his shins where he'd bumped into things, or on his shoulders or hips... were they in the shape of Kol'syk's fingers? He reached out to place a large, gentle paw on Luxin's bicep as he bent down to remove his pants.

"Eager, are we?" the Altean teased sweetly, turning tired blue eyes up at Kol with a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry, love, I think I'm too worn out for-"

Kol'syk frowned and shook his head. "No, I just... Luxin, am _I_ putting these bruises on you?" he breathed, his voice breaking slightly.

Luxin's ears angled toward him and his eyes widened. "Oh, Kol'syk, no... you're so gentle with me. Just... watch," he said softly, reaching up to pinch the dark skin on his wrist and holding it up for Kol'syk to watch the bruise form. It rose quickly - an ugly purple like the others, and in that moment, Kol'syk knew. Luxin, skinny and pale and tired, covered with bruises an looking up with such sorrow and empathy. Kol'syk knew, somewhere deep down, what was happening. But the more overpowering emotions - the denial and stubborn determination he possessed - wouldn't let him acknowledge it.

Instead, he had held Luxin in the tub as the Altean played with the black hair along his scalp and eventually drifted off in Kol'syk's lap. Luxin, bless him, didn't outright say anything and break Kol'syk's heart. He said nothing about the way Kol eased up on their touching, treating him as though he was made of thin, precious glass. He let his mate have however long he needed to come to terms with reality, and Kol'syk was going to put off his acceptance for as long as possible.

* * *

"As long as possible" ended up only being about two weeks.

Luxin and Alfor were almost done with the Lions at that point - there was only one that they hadn't started on, and one that was only steps away from completion. The other four were stunning, painted in different shades and standing in at only slightly different sizes. The ones who would form the legs were bigger than the core and arms, and they had yet to even begin on the Gold Lion - who was to be the head of what they were calling "Voltron." At least, from what Kol'syk could understand. It was all a bit confusing.

They were finishing up on the Purple Lion this week - the two Alteans were determined. The Empire was spreading, and even the two Galra could see how critical this mission was now. So they stood by, watching as Alfor and Luxin rushed back and forth between the Lion and their tools, assembling it from the ground up. Alfor was currently up on the mechanical beast's leg, reaching down for a tool that Luxin was supposed to bring to him. The younger Altean had to climb up a stepladder, hoisting himself up to get the dangerous-looking tool into Alfor's hand.

What happened next almost felt like it was in slow motion. Luxin turned to walk back down the little ladder, and managed to get to the bottom step before his face lost all color. His Altean marks faded and his eyes rolled back, and his knees folded. Nobody was close enough to catch him, so he hit the floor with a sickening thud, and it took a tick for everyone present to realize what had happened.

Alfor realized first, and hurried to climb down the leg of the Lion and rush over, kneeling beside the younger Altean. Kol'syk got to his feet after that, practically sprinting and sliding down to kneel beside his partner. His hands hovered anxiously, unsure of where to touch. Luxin was shaking, his breath coming out in short puffs as he got his hands underneath him. Alfor helped him sit up, and then cringed when a waterfall of crimson started to spill out of a newly-opened gash on Luxin's forehead. Head wounds were supposed to bleed a lot, but...

Luxin raised his hand to the wound and pulled it back to stare at his scarlet-slicked palm. He hissed and pressed his hand back to the injury. "Dammit," he breathed, and Alfor brushed the white hair out of the youth's pale face.

"We need to get you to the infirmary," he told him gently, then looked up at Kol'syk

The young Galra didn't need to be told. He reached his arms underneath his mate and hefted him up, feeling tears burn the back of his eyes at the faraway look in Luxin's usually-bright blue eyes. Fortunately for the both of them, the Altean didn't argue about going to the infirmary, and instead leaned his head against Kol's chest with a pitiful whimper.

"I know," Kol'syk shushed him as they made their way down to the med-bay. Alfor instructed him to lay Luxin down on one of the cots, and Kol'syk obeyed. The older Altean went about cleaning and bandaging the injury. Luxin didn't move as he worked, and his hand was cold and clammy in Kol's own.

He didn't wake as Kol'syk changed him into loose pajamas or when he bundled his hands and feet in gloves and socks. Didn't wake at any point during the night - not when Alfor came in to check his temperature and hook IVs into his arms, not when he explained the disease to Kol'syk, and not when Kol'syk slid into the cot beside Luxin to hold him close.

* * *

It took a whole day for Lux to stir once again.

 _"We don't have much in the way of a name for it. I understood that Luxin's father died from this same illness, but it usually doesn't occur this early on in an Altean's life," Alfor explained. "All we really know about it is that it develops overtime and does severe damage to the body. As in, Luxin's body is essentially eating itself alive. It's rare for it to have developed so quickly, but... there's nothing we can do for him but wait for the inevitable. I'm so sorry."_

That was the moment when the acceptance started to set in, and it was so much worse than Kol'syk could ever have prepared himself for. Holding Luxin's cold hand and praying for him to wake up - to be okay - was the absolute most terrified and most devastated that Kol had ever been in his entire life. All of those hopes and dreams and aspirations he and Luxin had built up together in their minds - of a small house in the middle of nowhere, adopted children, waking up to see Luxin's sleeping face when they were older... it all vanished in the midst of reality.

 _Luxin was dying._

"Kol-" the croak and the twitch of the hand in his woke the Galra, and he opened his eyes to see half-asleep, dull blue eyes staring back at him while they lay together.

Now, Kol'syk was not one for tears, but he came damn near as he leaned down to press a kiss to his lover's forehead, then brushed some tangled white hair from his unusually-pale face. His Altean markings were a sickly, dark yellow-gray instead of their usual blue (or in more intimate, loving moments, pink.) "Oh, Luxin," he breathed, and watched his mate's nose scrunch up in sympathy.

"I'm s-sorry," he rasped in response, raising one arm to card through Kol's hair and brush his thumbs across the Galra's cheeks.

Kol'syk could only shake his head and lay gentle kisses along his beloved's face, fearing he would cry if he spoke. And neither of them did cry that night. Instead, they simply held one another, giving and receiving comfort, until they fell asleep near dawn.

* * *

 **An -** _Okay, I am SO SORRY for being gone so long - life has been a crazy rollercoaster of me trying to get everything together for a college transfer, of me also taking my mom to and from dentist appointments and doctors appointments (some of which are about a two hour drive there and back), planning and throwing a baby shower for my cousin, and going through the death of someone I cared about very much. Someone who was more like a grandma to me than most of my actual grandparents have ever been. Which, for most of them... isn't saying much, but still. I loved this woman with my whole heart, and I had known her for 16 years._

 _It's just been way too much for me to handle. I'm glad I finally got this chapter finished, though! I am still definitely continuing this story~_

 _There is only one more Kol-syk and Luxin backstory chapter before we get back into the actual story. I was initially only going to give these two one chapter together like this, but then I fell in love and they are my favorite OC couple that I have ever written. I may do a side-series with just these two._

 _Again, next chapter will deal with more in-depth bodily processes (vomit, urine, sweat, blood, etc.) as would be expected with a disease that completely and utterly destroys one's body. Just to give you guys a warning._

 _HEADCANONS I HAVE FOR ALTEANS (which were mentioned in this chapter and will be in future chapters)_  
 _1\. Color-changing marks that shift with moods. I will be explaining what color means which as they come._  
 _2\. Ability to change biological gender. I felt like, if Allura could grow to be the size of a Galra, then what the hecky heck is stopping her from becoming Alluro?_

 _Anyway, I think that's all for now. I'll see you guys again soon (much sooner than this, I hope!)_

 _As always - read, review, pm me, ask questions, throw a parade. Whatever floats your boat!_

 _Love,_

 _anim8or_


	8. Background Chapter 3

Luxin was in so much pain these days. He tried not to make it blatantly obvious to everyone, but Kol could see it. There was obviously a lot of physical pain, yes, but Kol'syk was more attuned to the mental and emotional agony written on his partner's every feature. Confined to the infirmary bed, Luxin could no longer stand and walk on his own. It was as though his legs had simply given up, and it was a living hell for the independent Altean. It was a living hell for his adoring Galran mate, as well, but Kol'syk didn't think it was hardly as bad on him as it was on Luxin.

The Altean only cried in his sleep, to his credit, but Kol'syk wished that he felt comfortable to do so while he was awake, as well. If there was ever anything to cry about - if ever anyone had the right to cry about anything - it was here and now with Luxin. Alteans might live shorter lives than Galra in the first place, but Luxin was nowhere near the age Alteans usually reached. The age he should have lived to, with Kol'syk.

Beside him in the cot - his personal place of residence these days - Luxin began to stir and whimper as he started waking up from his extended sleep. He couldn't stay awake for long anymore, and Kol had given up on his belief that the Altean would get better. Kol'syk reached up one large hand to cup the back of Luxin's head and wipe a bit of the moisture from his beloved's face so that the Altean wouldn't realize he'd been crying. As if he wasn't embarrassed enough as it was...

"There you are, my love," Kol purred softly as Lux turned his face into the larger's palm, his ears flicking back in discomfort. "Is there anything you need? Water? Food? Restroom?" Luxin's pallid face burned with an awkward blush - he couldn't seem to accept the fact that he needed help with such things anymore. In fact, the first time he had had to ask for the bathroom, he had waited so long that they had almost ended up having to mop the floor. After that near-accident, Lux became better about asking, and Kol hated that he felt so humiliated about it. But that was part of who Luxin was - so independent and stubborn and self-reliant. Of course this would be hard for him to accept.

"Water?" Luxin croaked in return, pushing himself up on weak elbows so that he could rise into a sitting position. At least he could still do that much, and Kol'syk was wise enough to let him do it on his own. "P-please?"

Kol sat up after him and reached over to the side to pick up a water pouch that was there on standby. He popped the straw into it and placed it lightly into Lux's shaking hands. The Altean brought the straw to his mouth with effort that should never have had to be applied to something as small as a pouch of water. He took a few sips before it was running down his chin and he had to hand it back to his mate.

The Galran placed it back onto the table and ran gentle knuckles down Luxin's spine. "And what now?" he prompted, continuing to rub his mate's back. "Do you need anything else?"

"I..." the Altean whispered, leaning into Kol's chest with a soft sigh. "I would like to work on the Lions. There is still so much work to do, and... I want to get it done. Alfor needs my help - we're saving every universe. It's so _important_ ," he rambled on, clenching his jaw. "It's too much work for him to do on his own..."

Kol'syk's ears drooped at the ends, his heart clenching in his chest. This wasn't the first time they had had this conversation in the past week or so, and it never got any easier to endure. "Meivah, you know we can't do that," he murmured in return, his head lowering a bit. "You're not strong enough to stand - let alone build a Lion. Besides, you both were almost done, and I am certain that Alfor can handle the rest on his own. Phiram is helping him."

Luxin bit his lower lip and leaned against Kol's chest, already spent from simply sitting up and speaking to his partner. The Altean's body was trembling softly from exertion and emotion, and he brought one hand to press over his lips. "We haven't even started on the Gold Lion," he whispered softly, all color drained from his markings. "We hadn't finished on the Purple Lion, either..." Lux shivered and Kol'syk wrapped an arm around him to hug the Altean close and offer what body heat he could. "I just... _I've failed completely_..."

"You've done more than anyone could ever hope for," Kol responded softly, letting Luxin support himself against his own chest. In all honesty, he preferred it. He couldn't get enough of his mate on a good day, but even moreso on the bad ones. Luxin needed him, and he needed Luxin, and he was so grateful to be able to hold him like this – even just for the moment. "Alfor will find a way to get this done. You know he's smart enough to figure it out on his own, and if he ever does need you for something, I'm positive he would ask you. But I won't take you in there, Lux... unless you get a little stronger."

The young Altean was wise enough to know that Kol'syk was still hoping against hope – grasping at straws and trying to believe that Luxin still might recover. So he said nothing, instead nestling his head in the crook of Kol's neck. The two of them sat together in a comfortable, almost peaceful silence, before Lux spoke up once more.

"Kol?"

"Yes?"

"...I n-need to... to, um..."

He always seemed to have a problem with mentioning anything to do with his physical needs, aside from needing water, rest, or occasionally some food. But from the way his partner was shifting uncomfortably against his flank, Kol'syk could guess what the problem was. The Galran only wished that Luxin wouldn't feel so ashamed for needing something as basic as a toilet – and especially every single day, multiple times a day. It was hard to see him so humiliated over something he couldn't even control.

Kol rubbed his knuckles gently down the Altean's back and pressed a kiss to his temple. A soft frown crossed his lips when Lux turned his burning, shamed face into his own mate's chest. "Don't be embarrassed," he murmured softly, tightening his hold on Luxin as carefully as possible. "Do you want me to carry you to the restroom, or just get you a bedpan?"

"I... a bedpan, p-please," Lux whispered, his lips trembling and his hands fastening on the front of Kol'syk's sleep shirt. "It would hurt too much to be carried. I'm sorry..."

"Lux, it's okay," Kol soothed, kissing the top of the Altean's head. "You know I don't mind."

And he truly didn't, either. What he did mind, however, was the fact that he had to run to the closet down the hall to get his partner a proper recepticle to use. Of course they had to keep the damn things in a small room that took almost two whole minutes to get to and return to the infirmary – why in the hell didn't he just keep Luxin in his own room where the bathroom was literally sitting right beside them and they could have proper privacy? He would have to talk to Alfor about that.

Luxin was still there when he returned, waiting anxiously – but patiently – where he lay on the mattress. His markings were yellowish with illness and discomfort, and Kol stroked his hair as he sat down beside his partner's prone form. The Altean sucked in a sharp breath when the bed jostled his body, and Kol winced with him. "I'm sorry," he mumbled, beginning to slide one hand underneath Luxin's back to help him sit up. It was, unfortunately, necessary.

But as he lifted Luxin up, the Altean began to choke, and blood started to drip down his nose when his head was lifted up. Much like when he had that first nosebleed in the Gray Lion, he had unfortunately sucked some of the crimson liquid into his lungs. As if he didn't have enough to worry about...

Kol was quick to pat his back this time – firmly but as gently as he could manage at the same time. Lux was so easy to bruise these days, and he was so much smaller than Kol'syk that it made handling him exceptionally difficult. Particularly when he was gagging and choking and – oh gods above, his face was turning blue. Kol continued to pat his back and rub his chest and hold his head up all at the same time to try and get him to spit back up the offending liquid, but it wasn't working.

Finally, blessedly, Luxin sucked in a breath and started to retch and heave instead, so Kol'syk took the bedpan and held it beneath his partner's purplish lips. Blood and mucus and half-digested broth that he had eaten the night before spilled out from his mouth, but the spout of illness was short-lived and brief. Soon, Luxin was finished and Kol was free to possessively hug his mate to his chest, and the Altean was free to breathe and be held. Kol'syk noticed that the smaller male was trembling and panting and clinging just as tightly in return – his markings were a churning purple-green-yellow color that Kol could only describe as terror.

But then those markings started to deepen into reddish shades that would normally result from an embarrassment. Kol couldn't help but be confused, and was about to start comforting his partner when he smelled it – the tinge of ammonia in the air. The warmth and wetness in his own lap told the rest of the story for him, and Luxin had gone from shaking and terrified to tense and humiliated in his arms.

Guess they wouldn't be needing that bedpan after all.

"I think... I think we need a bath," Kol whispered, still clinging to his mate and threading his fingers through the Altean's hair. He didn't want to embarrass his partner any further than he already was, especially when this new development scared the hell out of him – Luxin had never had an... accident like this before. It was undoubtedly just another one of those signs that his body was shutting off and not doing what it was supposed to do.

Luxin didn't respond, but Kol hadn't been expecting him to. Instead, the Galran lifted up the young Altean and brought the two of them into the nearest restroom to get a bath going. Luxin remained quiet and instead just clung to the front of Kol's shirt, until his partner tried to put him down.

"Can you stand up for just a few moments?" Kol'syk asked, pressing a soft kiss to the top of Lux's head. The Altean hesitated before nodding his head, and Kol gingerly brought him to the ground so that he was on his feet. But he couldn't stay for long, and was quick to sink to his knees as Kol headed over to grab a couple of towels. He didn't fall hard, and Kol wasn't too worried about his physical health... but the sight of his mate kneeling in his own pee and blood was a vision that would haunt him to the end of his days.

The Galran was sure to hold his beloved for a particularly long time in the bath that night; to make him feel stable and comforted and loved. All the while making mental notes on how to prevent that type of thing from happening again.

* * *

 **{[** Voltron **]}**

* * *

The prevention wasn't working. Baths and accidents and nosebleeds and nausea came much more abundantly as the days passed and Lux became more and more weak and exhausted. He could hardly even move from the bed at all anymore, and one week, after four accidents in less than two days, Kol decided to bring up Luxin perhaps needing a bit of... protection against his weakened muscles and inability to hold it until they either reached a bathroom or got him a bedpan to use.

It was painful, and Luxin initially protested against it, but it only took a bit of prompting and slight begging from Kol (and the suggestion of Alfor) to convince him. And it hurt to have to learn the proper way to change the padding and making sure Lux was cleaned and comfortable, because the Altean had always been so very independent, but... it was better than watching him be humiliated over and over again.

But he was, every single day. Just not as much as if Kol had to mop up the floor after him.

 _"I'm so sorry..."_

They both apologized to one another a lot these days. This particular occasion was Luxin voicing his apology to Kol after his partner had returned from a short break to eat, as the scent of any food would send the Altean into a retching fit. Kol'syk had even been careful to brush his teeth and wash his hands before returning and laying down in the bed beside his mate. They didn't cuddle as much after Lux had begun deteriorating more rapidly, because it hurt the Altean's skin too badly. Unless Luxin was freezing or scared, Kol stayed on his side of the bed. The only exception was when they would hold hands, or Lux would let Kol run gentle hands across his face and trace the markings on his neck and arms.

A soft smile crossed the Galran's lips as he brushed his fingers across Lux's cheeks. "Don't be," he whispered, having heard the routine apologies and asking for forgiveness where it wasn't needed. Sometimes Luxin would even apologize for being _gross,_ which was positively absurd.

Luxin closed his eyes and leaned his head into Kol's touch, taking a deep breath. He didn't try to justify why he had apologized, and he didn't need to. But gods above did it hurt to see that defeated look in his eyes...

* * *

 **{[** Voltron **]}**

* * *

It didn't happen until about a week later, but of course there was a problem in the literal ten minutes that Kol had decided to take a break and eat during the day. Luxin had been asleep, and he had figured it would be safe for him to take a bit of time to himself. He hated to admit it, but he was completely exhausted – caring for a loved one like this was a round-the-clock job, and he was unbelievably tired.

But when he did return to check on his mate, he found that he was not quite alone. Honestly, if he were in better mental condition himself, he would have been able to recognize that the large form leaned over his partner was only Phiram, but in that moment... all he could see was an enemy.

He leapt forward and slammed himself down over the top of Luxin's slight frame, making sure to not put any weight at all on his beloved as he bared his fangs at the other, older Galran man. A snarl ripped itself from his throat and his ears pressed back against his skull, the fur along his shoulders rising in a completely undisguised threat. Phiram was quick to pull his hands away from the Altean's waist and hold them up in surrender, his own ears flicking back in response.

"It's alright," he soothed, meeting Kol'syk's ferocious yellow gaze with his own calm one. "I was simply trying to check on him – to make sure his pulse was steady and his breathing was even and that he was dry. That is all," the man went on, his eyes narrowing just a bit. "You need to calm down now – I believe you've frightened your mate."

Kol flinched a bit and looked over his shoulder to rest his gaze on his partner. Luxin's eyes were open and his face was pallid, his lips parted and his breathing shaky and stuttered. They made eye contact and the Altean almost instantly began to sniffle with emotion that was uncharacteristic of him. "Oh, meivah," Kol breathed, watching as tears built up in Luxin's eyes and began to spill over down his cheeks, cutting across dulled markings and dripping from his chin. The Galran reached a hand toward his mate, and much to his relief, Luxin reached his hands up in return instead of flinching away. As gingerly as possible, he began to dry the tears off of Lux's face and press soft kisses to the markings on his cheeks.

His skin was too cold, and his eyes were so dim...

"I'm taking him to my room," Kol whispered thickly. It was becoming obvious that it wouldn't be long now, and he'd be damned if he wasn't going to keep Luxin safe and concealed and warm and protected. Alfor and Phiram and Voltron and the Altean empire wouldn't be able to keep him from carrying Luxin to their bed and making sure he was as comfortable as possible for as long as he could.

Fortunately, Phiram said nothing as Kol lifted Lux up out of the bed and began carrying him out of the room. He had to use one hand to support the back of his mate's head and neck to make sure it wouldn't loll backward and make him uncomfortable. He could hardly keep his eyes open...

 _He's dying, he's dying, Luxin's dying..._

It wasn't fair. It wasn't right. But there was nothing that any of them could do to prevent it.

* * *

 **{[** Voltron **]}**

* * *

Kol'syk had laid beside his mate on their bed for over a day straight now. Luxin had fallen asleep not long after Kol had taken him out of the infirmary, and though he would occasionally whimper or stir a bit, his eyes would not open. Kol feared that they might never open again.

"You're _so_ beautiful, my darling..."

And he really was, too. Even emaciated and rail-thin, pale and ill, the sight of Luxin was enough to take his breath from his chest. Kol was determined to memorize every detail of his beloved's face as he held him, hoping against hope that the warmth from his body and the prayers he was sending up to every higher power he had ever heard of would be enough to save Luxin's life.

"Remember... remember that little house that we talked about getting? After all of this ends?" the Galran went on, his voice hoarse from talking. He just couldn't stand the thought of sitting in silence, just waiting on the end to come. "You wanted it to be by a lake, but I argued. It wouldn't be safe for the children." If he thought about it hard enough, he could almost hear Luxin's protest. "I know, I know... you won't have them biologically. But we could adopt. A baby orphaned by this horrible war, maybe... would you like that?"

There was no response.

Kol's ears pressed back a bit, but he nodded his head. His throat was almost too tight to speak again. "I think you'd warm up to the idea. You would be such an amazing parent." Perhaps a bit too mechanically-minded and stubborn, maybe, but certainly caring and warm. After the initial, inevitable hesitance. Lux was just that way.

Again, Luxin did not even stir. The only sign that he was even still alive was the slight tremble that his body had taken on, and the rattle in his lungs when he breathed in and out. His body was no longer working for him – it couldn't regulate its own temperature, it wasn't producing sweat, and Lux's joints and face were beginning to get puffy with retained water. So his kidneys weren't filtering any toxins out and the padding (Kol and Luxin both refused to call it a diaper) was rendered useless. Therefore, Kol'syk removed it and instead bundled Lux in one of his own giant, warm sweaters. He put the thickest socks he could find on Luxin's feet and hands, trying desperately to help him keep warm.

"Are you thirsty, my love?" Kol asked conversationally, brushing some of Luxin's tangled white hair from his face. He didn't expect an answer, but since Luxin's lips were dry and cracked and bleeding, he had no doubt that he was dehydrated. So he picked up a nearby water pouch that Alfor had left them and placed the straw between the Altean's lips.

Water merely dribbled down his chin in response to Kol's effort.

The Galran nodded his head and took a deep, steadying breath before wiping the wetness from Luxin's face. "That's okay, _meivah_ , that's okay. We're okay," he whispered, trying to reassure himself in some way. At this point, he wasn't even sure if Lux could feel any pain.

With the softest touch he could muster, Kol'syk traced his fingers along one of the markings on Luxin's cheeks. The marking – which had faded to a pale, nearly lifeless gray – began to take on just a hint of pink in a physical reaction to his mate's touch. It had always astounded Kol that Luxin was able to trust him so openly without being able to see the colors, like Kol'syk had the benefit of. Luxin had no pink marks to show that he was loved in return – he simply had to trust and understand Kol's adoration of him.

It meant more than the world to him to see that color on Luxin's skin now.

But it also was the one thing that really did him in – when Lux's cheeks illuminated a weak pink and he turned his face into the palm of Kol'syk's hand. Tears built up in the Galran's eyes and he gingerly pressed his forehead against the Altean's, his ears pinning to his head and his fur fluffing in sorrow.

"No, Luxin, please!" he begged in a ragged whisper, gentle hands pressing against his mate's too-thin back to hold him ever closer. "I'll give you anything! _Everything_! Just... just please, darling, please don't leave me, please, please, _please_... oh, _god_...!" Sobs began to tear forth from his chest as he clung to his beloved, far past the point of putting up walls or barriers against the emotions that had threatened to escape him for weeks.

Now, he was free to cry out and beg and pray and plead and bargain for Luxin to simply stay with him. Now that it was a complete, absolute impossibility... now that he would never see those sharp blue eyes ever again. Because even though Luxin was still physically with him, he lacked the strength that he needed to live, and he was growing weaker with each breath that was pulled into his chilled body.

Kol'syk cried himself to sleep that night, and when he woke back up, his mate was stiff and cold in his arms. The spirit had long since slipped away, and Alfor was in the room with them.

He never did think to ask what the colorful object the older Altean was holding was, nor how he knew that Lux had passed away. All he could do was cradle Luxin's body in his arms, hide his face away in that too-thin chest, and scream.

* * *

 **{[** Voltron **]}**

* * *

 _Present Day..._

Luxin took his nonphysical hand off of the projector where he had been projecting his memories. Even his hologram was blushing a dark, deep crimson and he was shaking with emotion from reliving the whole experience. Kol'syk had moved closer to him, even though he was trembling as well.

"Now, then..." Luxin began, placing his hands on his hips as he regarded the six earth teens – the new paladins. "I hope you all understand why I have shown you this. Not only did you all deserve to know what happened, but Kol'syk never knew that Alfor transferred my soul over to the hexagon while he slept. We had that agreement from early on in the process, but... at that point, I simply wanted to die. But I'm glad I'm here now," he stated decisively. "There's still an empire to destroy, and I'm most likely the only Altean that exists who will help you all. Though we'll have to put Kol to work now, as well." A conflicted smile crossed the Altean's lips – searching and apologetic and adoring all at the same time. "If he isn't too angry with me, of course."

Kol's eyes widened a bit and he stepped forward again, his hands hovering and anxious over Luxin's untouchable form. "How could I be angry with you?" he whispered, his eyes glistening with leftover pain. "I never thought... I never thought I would see you again..."

The Altean's own face crumpled a bit in sorrow before he moved over to get as close to Kol as physically possible, with their different planes of existence. "I'm still so, so _sorry_..." he murmured, his own eyes raising to meet Kol's gaze.

The Galran warrior offered him a smile that didn't look like it belonged on the face of a battle-scarred, gigantic soldier. It was so soft. "Don't be," he responded gently, a low purr rising in his throat.

Honestly, there wasn't a dry eye in the room. Even Luxin's image was fighting tears.

"Right," the Altean stated, turning back to the paladins. "I've shown you these memories to express to you how important it is to have trust in one another as a team. I've given you insight into mine – our – pasts. You are not expected to do the same instantly, but forming Voltron will require complete trust between all of you." He seemed to notice the fact that the six teenagers were not only emotionally compromised, but that Min and Arin in particular were hiding exhausted yawns behind their hands.

Kol'syk decided to step in at that point. "We can work on more tomorrow. For now, get some rest," he told them, and waited for each of them to head off in the direction of the small bedrooms they would be given before he turned back to his mate.

For a moment, the two just looked at each other and drank in their presence, before Kol reached one hand out to nearly touch Luxin's shoulder. The Altean let out a soft laugh before tossing his head toward a door on the opposite side of the room. "Come with me," he urged, turning and leading the way through. "I feel as though you and I have some catching up to do."

* * *

 **{[** Voltron **]}**

* * *

 **An –** _I am so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so sorry for the absolutely massive wait, and for the absolutely emotional chapter. This is the last Kol and Lux background chapter, but it is not the last we will see of the two of them, so don't worry!_

 _Life Update – I have transferred colleges and now attend a university. I got into the Digital Animation program! Honestly, I worked my ass off. Now I might actually live up to my username!_

 _Question of the Day: Who do you ship in Voltron? Personally, I am a sucker for Klance. Generic AF, but I don't care. Chemistry is chemistry, folks~!_

 _Read/Review/Pm me/enjoy! I'll be back soon. Also please tell me if there's anything wrong with the chapter! I kind of have sucky internet here right now and it was difficult to get this uploaded. If it's too rushed, I can redo it!_

 _Love,_

 _anim8or_


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